First off, it's good to see Fracture starting to crack. I'm kind of hoping he does himself in trying to protect those people... feels kind of harsh to say in light of how many people would be going with him but I think it would be worth it to be rid of him.
At least, I thought so. Picasso, oddly enough, seems to disagree.
"NO! He's not allowed to die until I'm done making him watch me kill Duckie. That HAS TO HAPPEN FIRST, then we can go roll him off a cliff or something."
But I personally think I'd still rather just see Fracture dead and done with. Things would be safer and easier that way.
I don't remember her being so hellbent on making Fracture pay before. Then again, he has been trying to kill us. Not hard to imagine how she would take that personally.
...
So... we're just trolling around right now. We have to assume Fracture has people huffing after us after what we did so we're trying to move as constantly as possible.
Traveling with Red has been odd. She's stopped cowering in the back seat and is actually up and relaxing. It's nice to see her calm and smiling. Much like Picasso, she's taken to talking at me. Although, worse than Picasso, she keeps going as if I've been saying things back.
"Morning Quiet Guy. Good. Like a baby," she giggles. "One. I dreamt I was a Walrus soaring through the sky! I know walrus don't do that. It was a dream, ass. Weird things happen in dreams. Don't give me that! I bet your dreams were weird too. Oh yeah, what did you dream about then? Liar, you so totally did, you just don't want to tell me because you know it was weird! Yeah whatever," she says grinning to herself and pulling out a notebook. She then starts sketching... a walrus flying with the clouds.
And that's what about 80% of my day has been since she started traveling with us.
Although, it gets worse than that. Picasso and Red have this weird thing going where they seem to be completely oblivious of each other despite being about five feet from each other for 4/5ths of the day.
I'm not sure entirely sure how unaware of each other they actually are since they never bump into each other or accidentally sit on each other when we stop to eat somewhere but they don't ever acknowledge each other. The most notable issue with this is the way they casually talk over each other.
"So how are Moth I want I'm good and a BAGEL the chips please the cream cheese I WILL thank you SKULL."
I've actually taken to letting Red drive so I can pretend to sleep and avoid this new fresh hell.
I did manage to get Red alone the other night and that brings us to our tittle tie in. I found out what her actual name is.
'Hi.'
"Hi paper! Do you have a message for me from Quiet Guy?"
'... My name is Moth.'
"Hahaha. Liar."
'No. It really is.'
"That so? Your mommy called you Moth?"
I stared at her blankly for a minute and shook my head no.
"I knew it. You turn orange when you lie! What's your real name?"
'A secret.'
"Well, Mr. Secret, if that's how you want to play then my name is.... Not Navi! Ha! So, like, call me that and stuff."
I just stared at her, started questioning to myself why every girl I have to travel with acts like a lunatic.
"No! Of course not!" she said deciding to continue the conversation on her own.
I'm really starting to regret all the time I spent looking for her.
I'll see what I can't get out of her later when she quiets up a bit.
Moth out.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Black Lake Falls, Part 2
Fuck. Color coating is hard. Picasso will remain red. We'll make Red blue. The bright green is obnoxious.
...
So, Red was at the door. I was ready to run. It looked like another trap to me but that never seems to stop Picasso. She went right ahead and let Red in. And unfortunately, it was to our favor. It gets really difficult to scold her about doing stupid things when it occasionally works to our favor. It reinforces this insane notion she has that she can do whatever the fuck she wants and everything will work out for her.
It's going to get me killed one of these days.
So, Red immediately stepped in when Picasso opened the door.
"H-Hello?! I-I found it for you! I've been good! I-I swear!" she declared and stared at Picasso expectantly offering no explanation for what the fuck she was talking about. She was fidgety beyond belief. She looked... terrified. I moved past her and checked the hall behind her. I thought someone might have chased her up here. Not that that would have really explained how she found us but I was grasping for any explanation I could get my hands on for what the fuck was going on. Her appearance seemed so out of place, the most alarming thing about it being that she showed up with a mask around her neck and what appeared to be a sheathed katana around her shoulder. It was pressed hard against her back underneath the backpack she had on. Where the fuck did she get that?!
I don't even think she looked as I passed her by. She just stared up desperately at Picasso. SO confusing was the situation that Picasso was actually speechless for once in her life. She quietly stared back and tilted her head.
"L-L-L-L-L-Look!" she yelled getting more agitated as she took her little backpack off her back and held it up to Picasso. I think she was working herself into a panic.
I pulled it out of her hands and gave a cautious peek into the bag...
'No way!' I thought to myself. I fully unzipped it so I could get a good look. I had to be sure and I was fucking right. C4. The Backpack was FULL of C4.
I looked up to see Red nervously glancing back and forth from me to Picasso. I held it open for Picasso to see before zipping it up and slinging it onto my own shoulder. I wasn't about to give that back.
"S-See! I got it! I-I-I also found the statue! That was everything you told me... I d-did good... I-I'm good... Right?" she asked and pleaded at us desperately.
Picasso walked passed Red and looked both ways in the hall. This made Red squeal and hug herself facing down. She was shaking like crazy. Took her a good half a minute to finally look up. She seemed relieved.
I, however, was getting anxious. This was taking too fucking long. We needed to have left five minutes ago.
"O-Oh. S-Sorrry. How st-stupid! You want to see it," she said sliding against the wall to get around Picasso, for some reason deliberately going out of her way not to touch Picasso. "C-Come on!"
Picasso looked at me, she had been surprisingly quiet this whole time. I guess maybe this was one of those types of things that leave you speechless? I mean, I wouldn't know myself. I'm always speechless.
I motioned at the window. I still very much thought we should be escaping through it. She shook her head no and started following Red who had a little head start on us now. I let out a loud groan as I followed her to let her know how bad an idea I thought this was. She continued to do whatever the fuck she wanted to do, like she always does.
So, Red led us to a room on the third floor and pulled out a key and unlocked it for us going in ahead of us. There were two people tied to chairs in here. When we came in they started fidgeting and struggling against their bindings making muffled noises against their cloth gags. I think one of them might have been crying.
The way Red casually walked into the room and motioned at them was kind of surprising.
"I-I'm sorry about the witnesses! Th-They were a-already in the room... I tr-tried to kill them for you but e-every time I tried to cut them I get s-s-sent flying across the room! I f-figured, if they were a big enough i-issue, y-you could get rid of them! W-Was that b-bad?" she asked in a sheepish scared tone. Her voice slowly got quieter over the course of the sentences like a child explaining something to an angry parent already convinced they were in deep shit.
Picasso didn't acknowledge her... like at all. She moved around the room looking for something. I took the opportunity to move over to Red's hostages. I wanted to see if hurting them would really send you across the room. I gave the crying one a little flick on the nose. Harmless. It didn't send me flying either. They did, however, start crying hysterically, bawling their eyes out. Before I could experiment further with the concept, my attention was drawn back to Red as she started talking again.
"O-Oh! I-I... S-Sorry. I keep doing that. S-So, SOOO, s-sorry! N-Never again! I-I swear it," said Red moving to the closet. She did something to the top left of the closet's back wall and then that whole back wall slid open revealing a set of stairs. "It's down here!" she declared leading the way down. Me and Picasso shared a look and then we followed her.
There were a lot of stairs. Like, a WHOLE lot. My fucking god. We definitely went further down than three floors, the stairs started like a stairwell but at one point they just became one continuous diagonal. They FINALLY ended with a door, which was locked. Not that that mattered. I think Red was in the middle of explaining how she couldn't figure out the lock when Picasso tackled her way through it... old wood I guess. The whole place looked old, the entire room was coated in a layer of Dust. There were a few corpses on the floor, three doors leading somewhere else, and, of course, the thing we had been looking for was there too, a large marble statue of what I am assuming was Hecate fixed to the center of the room.
It didn't have a spot of dust on it. It looked brand new... magnificent. She was beautiful. All three of them were. The statue was three figures of the same women facing in three different directions, each one with a stick in hand.
But my marveling over them was interrupted by Red breaking into another little episode of pleading.
"S-See! There it is. Th-That makes me a good girl r-right?!" she demanded to know desperately. We both stared at her. I wanted to ask so many questions. I wanted to say so many reassuring things... she needed them. She really, really, really needed them.
When she didn't get an answer, she crouched over and hugged herself rocking back and forth. "It's okay. Y-You're a good girl. Or you wouldn't be a-alive. So good.... s-so good," she said making a desperate effort to reassure herself.
...What the fuck had happened to her in the three weeks since I last saw her?
I continued to stare for a moment but I was still very much in rush mode. I didn't quite feel safe in this place, I knew I wasn't going to feel safe until we were the fuck out of Black Lake.
I went to go check the doors to see where they went but Picasso grabbed me by my shoulder and shook her head at me. It didn't occur to me at the time because operating without ever saying a word is kind of more comfortable and normal to me, but my god was she being quiet. Still not a single word out of her.
She tapped my backpack and then pointed at the statue.
'Guess it's time to rip this town out of Fracture's overly self-entitled hands and give it back to the gods,' I told myself as I kneeled down and got to work setting up the C4. I found everything I would need to rig up a timed detonation.
I looked expectantly over at Red. Just where the fuck did she get all this?
"W-What?" she asked, frightened by the sudden turn of attention to her. "I-It's the good st-stuff, I s-swear! St-Stole it from the bikers like I was told to! I-I was g-good! ST-STOP STARING AT ME!" she yelled tearing up in a panic.
'Bikers' huh... probably timberwolves?
I looked away and finished rigging the statue to blow. I wanted to reach out to comfort her but I'm pretty sure she would have started screaming for her life.
The little digital display started counting down. Picasso waved her hand and a Path portal violently ripped open. She spared no time disappearing inside it. I followed her and stopped a few steps in. I looked over my shoulder to find Red still standing there in a panicked uncertain huff.
"I... H-Hello?!" she called at the portal. "Uh... Okay. B-Bye?" she said looking at the bomb then back at the portal. I reached out and pulled her in making her make an odd yelping noise. She screamed once inside in an absolute panic over her surroundings, which was odd. I mean sure, it was the path. It's a spooky, discomforting, and weird place but you'd think you had just poured a bucket of maggots on her the way she was acting. She squealed and broke into a full sprint after Picasso and dove out of the Path when Picasso opened an exit portal.
I can't say where we landed but it was some place safe. Red curled up into the corner shaking violently and pawing at her face with her palms like she was trying to get something off that she didn't want to touch.
I hate landing somewhere new when we travel with the Path. Now we needed a new car and to figure out where we were...
All stuff I was gonna have to figure out. And I did. I pulled around in the new vehicle later that afternoon. We had to keep moving. We pathed here so it wouldn't take them long to find us. I waited as Picasso packed up our stuff and held the door open for Red, who nervously crawled into the car and then curled up on the floor in the back seat.
Finally Picasso hopped into the passenger's seat and stared at me.
I wasn't sure what she was waiting for... I started to pull out a map so she could pick out a random direction for us to head for when she finally spoke for the first time in hours. "We're keeping her. Drive," she said in a grim, serious tone. Then she immediately adopted her usual big goofy grin, let her chair back, and threw her feet up on the dash board.
"HURRAY UP! I want to be somewhere with a Golden Coral. I'm gonna eat ALL THE EGGS. You're gonna be like 'No way' but then I'M GONNA DO IT and it's gonna be great! Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP!" she demanded. I immediately regretted the brief joy hearing her talk gave me because it looks like I'm not gonna be able to get her to shut up again.
In fact, I think she might be talking into overtime to make up for all that time she spent quiet because she hasn't stopped since we started driving. She's even been sleep talking, although not quiet as fast.
Can't fucking win with her.
At least the thing with Black Lake is gone. We even managed to save someone.
In a comment, Fracture mentioned that only half the people in Black Lake died. It's hard to imagine everyone didn't die if it was as bad as the Archivist was predicting, all the fears swarming in to claim the place at once.
In fact, he mentioned that they were rioting, which I think implies that the town is still standing... but if they swarmed the place I couldn't imagine anything would still be standing.
Whatever happened, it seems Fracture has lost control of the place. That's really all that matters.
Moth out.
...
So, Red was at the door. I was ready to run. It looked like another trap to me but that never seems to stop Picasso. She went right ahead and let Red in. And unfortunately, it was to our favor. It gets really difficult to scold her about doing stupid things when it occasionally works to our favor. It reinforces this insane notion she has that she can do whatever the fuck she wants and everything will work out for her.
It's going to get me killed one of these days.
So, Red immediately stepped in when Picasso opened the door.
"H-Hello?! I-I found it for you! I've been good! I-I swear!" she declared and stared at Picasso expectantly offering no explanation for what the fuck she was talking about. She was fidgety beyond belief. She looked... terrified. I moved past her and checked the hall behind her. I thought someone might have chased her up here. Not that that would have really explained how she found us but I was grasping for any explanation I could get my hands on for what the fuck was going on. Her appearance seemed so out of place, the most alarming thing about it being that she showed up with a mask around her neck and what appeared to be a sheathed katana around her shoulder. It was pressed hard against her back underneath the backpack she had on. Where the fuck did she get that?!
I don't even think she looked as I passed her by. She just stared up desperately at Picasso. SO confusing was the situation that Picasso was actually speechless for once in her life. She quietly stared back and tilted her head.
"L-L-L-L-L-Look!" she yelled getting more agitated as she took her little backpack off her back and held it up to Picasso. I think she was working herself into a panic.
I pulled it out of her hands and gave a cautious peek into the bag...
'No way!' I thought to myself. I fully unzipped it so I could get a good look. I had to be sure and I was fucking right. C4. The Backpack was FULL of C4.
I looked up to see Red nervously glancing back and forth from me to Picasso. I held it open for Picasso to see before zipping it up and slinging it onto my own shoulder. I wasn't about to give that back.
"S-See! I got it! I-I-I also found the statue! That was everything you told me... I d-did good... I-I'm good... Right?" she asked and pleaded at us desperately.
Picasso walked passed Red and looked both ways in the hall. This made Red squeal and hug herself facing down. She was shaking like crazy. Took her a good half a minute to finally look up. She seemed relieved.
I, however, was getting anxious. This was taking too fucking long. We needed to have left five minutes ago.
"O-Oh. S-Sorrry. How st-stupid! You want to see it," she said sliding against the wall to get around Picasso, for some reason deliberately going out of her way not to touch Picasso. "C-Come on!"
Picasso looked at me, she had been surprisingly quiet this whole time. I guess maybe this was one of those types of things that leave you speechless? I mean, I wouldn't know myself. I'm always speechless.
I motioned at the window. I still very much thought we should be escaping through it. She shook her head no and started following Red who had a little head start on us now. I let out a loud groan as I followed her to let her know how bad an idea I thought this was. She continued to do whatever the fuck she wanted to do, like she always does.
So, Red led us to a room on the third floor and pulled out a key and unlocked it for us going in ahead of us. There were two people tied to chairs in here. When we came in they started fidgeting and struggling against their bindings making muffled noises against their cloth gags. I think one of them might have been crying.
The way Red casually walked into the room and motioned at them was kind of surprising.
"I-I'm sorry about the witnesses! Th-They were a-already in the room... I tr-tried to kill them for you but e-every time I tried to cut them I get s-s-sent flying across the room! I f-figured, if they were a big enough i-issue, y-you could get rid of them! W-Was that b-bad?" she asked in a sheepish scared tone. Her voice slowly got quieter over the course of the sentences like a child explaining something to an angry parent already convinced they were in deep shit.
Picasso didn't acknowledge her... like at all. She moved around the room looking for something. I took the opportunity to move over to Red's hostages. I wanted to see if hurting them would really send you across the room. I gave the crying one a little flick on the nose. Harmless. It didn't send me flying either. They did, however, start crying hysterically, bawling their eyes out. Before I could experiment further with the concept, my attention was drawn back to Red as she started talking again.
"O-Oh! I-I... S-Sorry. I keep doing that. S-So, SOOO, s-sorry! N-Never again! I-I swear it," said Red moving to the closet. She did something to the top left of the closet's back wall and then that whole back wall slid open revealing a set of stairs. "It's down here!" she declared leading the way down. Me and Picasso shared a look and then we followed her.
There were a lot of stairs. Like, a WHOLE lot. My fucking god. We definitely went further down than three floors, the stairs started like a stairwell but at one point they just became one continuous diagonal. They FINALLY ended with a door, which was locked. Not that that mattered. I think Red was in the middle of explaining how she couldn't figure out the lock when Picasso tackled her way through it... old wood I guess. The whole place looked old, the entire room was coated in a layer of Dust. There were a few corpses on the floor, three doors leading somewhere else, and, of course, the thing we had been looking for was there too, a large marble statue of what I am assuming was Hecate fixed to the center of the room.
It didn't have a spot of dust on it. It looked brand new... magnificent. She was beautiful. All three of them were. The statue was three figures of the same women facing in three different directions, each one with a stick in hand.
But my marveling over them was interrupted by Red breaking into another little episode of pleading.
"S-See! There it is. Th-That makes me a good girl r-right?!" she demanded to know desperately. We both stared at her. I wanted to ask so many questions. I wanted to say so many reassuring things... she needed them. She really, really, really needed them.
When she didn't get an answer, she crouched over and hugged herself rocking back and forth. "It's okay. Y-You're a good girl. Or you wouldn't be a-alive. So good.... s-so good," she said making a desperate effort to reassure herself.
...What the fuck had happened to her in the three weeks since I last saw her?
I continued to stare for a moment but I was still very much in rush mode. I didn't quite feel safe in this place, I knew I wasn't going to feel safe until we were the fuck out of Black Lake.
I went to go check the doors to see where they went but Picasso grabbed me by my shoulder and shook her head at me. It didn't occur to me at the time because operating without ever saying a word is kind of more comfortable and normal to me, but my god was she being quiet. Still not a single word out of her.
She tapped my backpack and then pointed at the statue.
'Guess it's time to rip this town out of Fracture's overly self-entitled hands and give it back to the gods,' I told myself as I kneeled down and got to work setting up the C4. I found everything I would need to rig up a timed detonation.
I looked expectantly over at Red. Just where the fuck did she get all this?
"W-What?" she asked, frightened by the sudden turn of attention to her. "I-It's the good st-stuff, I s-swear! St-Stole it from the bikers like I was told to! I-I was g-good! ST-STOP STARING AT ME!" she yelled tearing up in a panic.
'Bikers' huh... probably timberwolves?
I looked away and finished rigging the statue to blow. I wanted to reach out to comfort her but I'm pretty sure she would have started screaming for her life.
The little digital display started counting down. Picasso waved her hand and a Path portal violently ripped open. She spared no time disappearing inside it. I followed her and stopped a few steps in. I looked over my shoulder to find Red still standing there in a panicked uncertain huff.
"I... H-Hello?!" she called at the portal. "Uh... Okay. B-Bye?" she said looking at the bomb then back at the portal. I reached out and pulled her in making her make an odd yelping noise. She screamed once inside in an absolute panic over her surroundings, which was odd. I mean sure, it was the path. It's a spooky, discomforting, and weird place but you'd think you had just poured a bucket of maggots on her the way she was acting. She squealed and broke into a full sprint after Picasso and dove out of the Path when Picasso opened an exit portal.
I can't say where we landed but it was some place safe. Red curled up into the corner shaking violently and pawing at her face with her palms like she was trying to get something off that she didn't want to touch.
I hate landing somewhere new when we travel with the Path. Now we needed a new car and to figure out where we were...
All stuff I was gonna have to figure out. And I did. I pulled around in the new vehicle later that afternoon. We had to keep moving. We pathed here so it wouldn't take them long to find us. I waited as Picasso packed up our stuff and held the door open for Red, who nervously crawled into the car and then curled up on the floor in the back seat.
Finally Picasso hopped into the passenger's seat and stared at me.
I wasn't sure what she was waiting for... I started to pull out a map so she could pick out a random direction for us to head for when she finally spoke for the first time in hours. "We're keeping her. Drive," she said in a grim, serious tone. Then she immediately adopted her usual big goofy grin, let her chair back, and threw her feet up on the dash board.
"HURRAY UP! I want to be somewhere with a Golden Coral. I'm gonna eat ALL THE EGGS. You're gonna be like 'No way' but then I'M GONNA DO IT and it's gonna be great! Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP!" she demanded. I immediately regretted the brief joy hearing her talk gave me because it looks like I'm not gonna be able to get her to shut up again.
In fact, I think she might be talking into overtime to make up for all that time she spent quiet because she hasn't stopped since we started driving. She's even been sleep talking, although not quiet as fast.
Can't fucking win with her.
At least the thing with Black Lake is gone. We even managed to save someone.
In a comment, Fracture mentioned that only half the people in Black Lake died. It's hard to imagine everyone didn't die if it was as bad as the Archivist was predicting, all the fears swarming in to claim the place at once.
In fact, he mentioned that they were rioting, which I think implies that the town is still standing... but if they swarmed the place I couldn't imagine anything would still be standing.
Whatever happened, it seems Fracture has lost control of the place. That's really all that matters.
Moth out.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Black Lake Falls, Part 1
Hahaha. Fuck. So we called Fracture out. We killed Black Lake's resident Archivist, destroyed all the information in the library that Fracture was likely waiting for the Archivist to finish collecting so Fracture could steal it all for himself, and then we announced what we did and revealed all the likely classified information about Black Lake that Fracture probably didn't want to see get out. And we got what we wanted. And what we wanted swiftly kicked our asses.
We were snooping around the hotel. We needed to find that statue. There would be no greater leverage to use against Fracture than the Statue that was keeping this town safe from all the angry inpatient fears that wanted to storm in and make it their own by ripping it a new one. That's when I got a call from Fracture. I waved Picasso over and pressed the little green receive button and the speaker phone function.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" yelled Picasso at the phone.
It was quiet for a moment, then Fracture spoke. "What the fuck are you waiting for. Say what I told you to say, Mutt."
I felt my heart sink... as Duckie's voice came clear as day though the phone.
"I-I..."
"Sound it out."
"On... roof... get me..."
"I... yeah sure. Close enough." And then Fracture hung up.
I sensed an obvious trap, not that it mattered. Picasso was already half way up the stairs living me little option but to follow. If it was a trap, she was gonna need help.
I let her run out onto the roof ahead of me and waited for whatever the trick might be from the door infront of the stairs. Fracture and Duckie... god damn... he really is alive... they were standing out in the middle of the roof waiting for us like bait.
"Here it is, Picasso. This is what you wanted right? To have your little fight with Duckie."
Picasso rushed at them both like a moron. Duckie sidestepped her, caught her by her collar, and then used her own momentum to throw her back sending her tumbling to the floor. If there was gonna be an ambush, I figured they would have dove out when Picasso did that so I decided it was probably safe to come out and help.
I ran over to Picasso when Fracture pulled out his gun and fired several shots at my feet. I instinctively dodged... big fucking mistake. Never dodge Fracture. He never shoots to kill. Always to guide you somewhere. I dove for cover and from around that cover sprang 7 proxies.... cute.
Five hollows, I think. I can never tell with Fracture, he likes to mix masked mutes in with his hollows. And Sloth and my little Maggot. Seven people he knew I wouldn't kill.
Fracture took a step and was suddenly perched behind me on a statue like a cat taking the high ground... or a bird.
"Now now, Moth. Can't have you interrupting Picasso and Duckie's big reunion. You'll have to wait your turn."
I tried to fight my way out of the seven of the seven of them but its hard to fight your way out of circle. Swing one way and they'll get you in the back. Swing the other and they'll pull a foot out from under you. Toying with me. They probably could have killed me there but that didn't seem to be the plan. He was gonna have Duckie kill us one at a time... give us what we were asking for... asshole.
I caught glimpses of Picasso fighting but I couldn't really focus on it. It didn't look like she was doing very good on her own. Every time I caught a peek she was being thrown back with a punch or just actually being thrown.
She started yelling at him. She threw a fucking fit.
"Is that ALL YOU'VE GOT!? You need MORE people so I can KILL YOU ALL OUTRIGHT! DO YOU HEAR ME, FRACTURE? When I finish with Duckie, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE!"
She was losing. 'Everyone'. Bold statement...
That's when Nat showed up.
"The fuck is going on here?"
"FIGHTING FUCKFACE AND DUCKIE. Whats it look like?"
"You shouldn't be here..." said Fracture dropping unsteadily from his Statue and drawing his gun. His face... he'd had the biggest fucking grin up to now but it was gone now. Nothing but a serious look of concern. A variable had shown up and it was threatening all those precious little plans of his.
He pointed out three of the hollows that had been on me and pointed to Nat. "You three, with me... Kill her."
The three of them stepped back and moved over to her. "Pincer three maneuver." I was familiar with that one... pin down and execute. He was really gonna do it. Not sure... why...
"... Motherfucker, this is what I get for being nosy. You know, I wasn't going to interfere, but if you want me killing your men... fuckwit..."
Didn't matter I guess. She struggled a bit under his gun fire until she realized he wasn't shooting to kill.
"What, you're too much of a chickenshit to shoot at me but you'll send your goons to kill me?"
"It's not my cup of tea. Guess this isn't fooling anyone anymore." Then the gun fire stopped. I'm assuming he put his gun away.
Not long after that she made short work of them. Sloth is shit in a fight and I actually taught Maggot how to fight so without their copious backup, I was able to get them both on their asses and leave to go help Picasso while Nat finished dealing with her stooges.
...
I got a look at Fracture as she finished cutting one of them down... I sympathize with hollows myself... their deaths are a tragedy. It's like shooting a puppy in the face... it may have been doing wrong but it doesn't know any better. It's just a dog...
But that look Fracture gets whenever something dies in front of him would almost make it worth cutting one down. It's as if someone had actually shot a puppy in front of him. He stiffens... goes wide eyed... seems to be in complete disbelief that that was possible before he snaps back from his shock, shaken... if only for a moment.
I have no doubt that if Nat hadn't arrive, he would have left when it came time for Duckie to finish it... he doesn't have the stomach for this shit.
...
Right... the fight. So while Nat was still dealing with her hollows, I went to help Picasso. The fight had taken a turn from bad to worse. Where previously she was being thrown around, he'd pulled his knife now. Picasso kept swinging with her hatchets but he always dodged and moved around her. And every time he did that he cut her open somewhere. Nothing vital... he was gonna bleed her out.
By the time I had gotten over to her, she was bleeding bad and down to a knee.
"Not... good enough... again..." spat out Duckie in crude broken sentences... I was kind of surprised he could talk on his own, I have to assume Fracture taught him a few lines to fuck with us.
I moved between him and Picasso. I... he grinned.... what passes for a grin on that big ugly sandpapered face.
I came at him. This was the moment I'd been training for. Everything I had been waiting for... it was finally time to prove I was better than Duckie... but... I wasn't. EVERY attack I made got countered with a hard punch in the kidney. I kept trying. I kept swinging until I could hardly stand and what I was doing turned into a desperate flailing.
I made a huge fucking mistake.
In the middle of the fight I heard Fracture giving new orders to Sloth and Maggot.
"Maggot, plan C."
"Plan C?" asked Sloth. Then he cried out in pain.
"Plan C. Excecute the traitor."
"MOTHERFUCKER."
I tried to turn to look and make sure he was okay. That got me firm first in the gut... I crumpled to the floor gasping for air.
I stared for a moment, wheezing for air and desperately trying to get off the ground.
I could see Nat... trying to help Sloth. Then extreme discomfort as Duckie lifted me to my feet to face him by my head.
"Don't... deserve... mask...WEAK!" declared Duckie. I tried to get free but he didn't give me much time before he pulled his head back and fucking headbutted me in the face. Then things went black for little while.
I didn't stay down long. I about drowned in the blood that had started pooling in my mask. I popped up for air, apparently still at Duckies feet. Apparently Picasso was beside me now. I could hear her.
"OH NO! You're not getting me with that-" she yelled and then suddenly got quiet. "...again...?"
I looked up... apparently Picasso had tried to use her brother's sword... and I guess that didn't work. Because Duckie had it... and he had run her through with it.
I pulled my mask to my face... its cracked to shit now... barely holds together... It looked like that was gonna be it... we were gonna die.
That's when I heard Sloth come charging across the roof.
"N-No! Patrica!" he yelled. He jumped on Duckie's back and threw his weight back, pulling the both of them over to the ledge and away from us. Nat ran over.
"Moth, now's the time if you're gonna do this..."
I... fucked up. She was talking about finishing Duckie... but we were so fucked up... I thought she was telling us to get out of there. I grabbed Picasso and ran... I should have finished Duckie...
I lifted Picasso up and opened a path portal.
Stopped... Turned back for a moment..
"This is how it started, huh, Donald...? Let's end it like this too!" declared Sloth... both of them went off the side of the building... I couldn't watch beyond that... I left through the portal and started bandaging Picasso up in our room. I... assumed they had both died. Apparently not...
...
I wasn't even finished bandaging up Picasso before she started struggling and trying to get to her feet. She pushed me aside. "H-Have... to get back there... KILL... Duckie..."
I grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to sit back down. "Th-They're still there! W-We have to finish this! Th-They're still there! They have to be!"
I stared her down... shook my head. I think that was when she actually realized how fucked up we both where and stopped trying to stand back up.
She glared angrily at the wall as I finished sewing and bandaging her up... snapped my nose back into place.
We were packing up to leave... we had to get the hell out of there and regroup somewhere where Fracture couldn't wait us out with another ambush... that's when there was a knock at the door.
I cautiously looked through the peep hole... I... couldn't believe my eyes. It was Red... she was standing at our door waiting for us... I... I assumed it was a trap. She had a knife in one hand and a mask around her neck. We were heading for the window when she called out. "Hello?! I-I found it for you! I've been good! I-I swear."
...What?
I wasn't about to take anymore chances. I kept moving to climb out the window. I was on the other side of it too... when I realized Picasso had abandoned my plan and opened the door to let Red in.
I climbed back in... as it turned out, Red had come to help us... for some reason. And she came baring Black Lake's doom.
... Stopping point... make this part 1. Need to start moving again.
We were snooping around the hotel. We needed to find that statue. There would be no greater leverage to use against Fracture than the Statue that was keeping this town safe from all the angry inpatient fears that wanted to storm in and make it their own by ripping it a new one. That's when I got a call from Fracture. I waved Picasso over and pressed the little green receive button and the speaker phone function.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" yelled Picasso at the phone.
It was quiet for a moment, then Fracture spoke. "What the fuck are you waiting for. Say what I told you to say, Mutt."
I felt my heart sink... as Duckie's voice came clear as day though the phone.
"I-I..."
"Sound it out."
"On... roof... get me..."
"I... yeah sure. Close enough." And then Fracture hung up.
I sensed an obvious trap, not that it mattered. Picasso was already half way up the stairs living me little option but to follow. If it was a trap, she was gonna need help.
I let her run out onto the roof ahead of me and waited for whatever the trick might be from the door infront of the stairs. Fracture and Duckie... god damn... he really is alive... they were standing out in the middle of the roof waiting for us like bait.
"Here it is, Picasso. This is what you wanted right? To have your little fight with Duckie."
Picasso rushed at them both like a moron. Duckie sidestepped her, caught her by her collar, and then used her own momentum to throw her back sending her tumbling to the floor. If there was gonna be an ambush, I figured they would have dove out when Picasso did that so I decided it was probably safe to come out and help.
I ran over to Picasso when Fracture pulled out his gun and fired several shots at my feet. I instinctively dodged... big fucking mistake. Never dodge Fracture. He never shoots to kill. Always to guide you somewhere. I dove for cover and from around that cover sprang 7 proxies.... cute.
Five hollows, I think. I can never tell with Fracture, he likes to mix masked mutes in with his hollows. And Sloth and my little Maggot. Seven people he knew I wouldn't kill.
Fracture took a step and was suddenly perched behind me on a statue like a cat taking the high ground... or a bird.
"Now now, Moth. Can't have you interrupting Picasso and Duckie's big reunion. You'll have to wait your turn."
I tried to fight my way out of the seven of the seven of them but its hard to fight your way out of circle. Swing one way and they'll get you in the back. Swing the other and they'll pull a foot out from under you. Toying with me. They probably could have killed me there but that didn't seem to be the plan. He was gonna have Duckie kill us one at a time... give us what we were asking for... asshole.
I caught glimpses of Picasso fighting but I couldn't really focus on it. It didn't look like she was doing very good on her own. Every time I caught a peek she was being thrown back with a punch or just actually being thrown.
She started yelling at him. She threw a fucking fit.
"Is that ALL YOU'VE GOT!? You need MORE people so I can KILL YOU ALL OUTRIGHT! DO YOU HEAR ME, FRACTURE? When I finish with Duckie, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE!"
She was losing. 'Everyone'. Bold statement...
That's when Nat showed up.
"The fuck is going on here?"
"FIGHTING FUCKFACE AND DUCKIE. Whats it look like?"
"You shouldn't be here..." said Fracture dropping unsteadily from his Statue and drawing his gun. His face... he'd had the biggest fucking grin up to now but it was gone now. Nothing but a serious look of concern. A variable had shown up and it was threatening all those precious little plans of his.
He pointed out three of the hollows that had been on me and pointed to Nat. "You three, with me... Kill her."
The three of them stepped back and moved over to her. "Pincer three maneuver." I was familiar with that one... pin down and execute. He was really gonna do it. Not sure... why...
"... Motherfucker, this is what I get for being nosy. You know, I wasn't going to interfere, but if you want me killing your men... fuckwit..."
Didn't matter I guess. She struggled a bit under his gun fire until she realized he wasn't shooting to kill.
"What, you're too much of a chickenshit to shoot at me but you'll send your goons to kill me?"
"It's not my cup of tea. Guess this isn't fooling anyone anymore." Then the gun fire stopped. I'm assuming he put his gun away.
Not long after that she made short work of them. Sloth is shit in a fight and I actually taught Maggot how to fight so without their copious backup, I was able to get them both on their asses and leave to go help Picasso while Nat finished dealing with her stooges.
...
I got a look at Fracture as she finished cutting one of them down... I sympathize with hollows myself... their deaths are a tragedy. It's like shooting a puppy in the face... it may have been doing wrong but it doesn't know any better. It's just a dog...
But that look Fracture gets whenever something dies in front of him would almost make it worth cutting one down. It's as if someone had actually shot a puppy in front of him. He stiffens... goes wide eyed... seems to be in complete disbelief that that was possible before he snaps back from his shock, shaken... if only for a moment.
I have no doubt that if Nat hadn't arrive, he would have left when it came time for Duckie to finish it... he doesn't have the stomach for this shit.
...
Right... the fight. So while Nat was still dealing with her hollows, I went to help Picasso. The fight had taken a turn from bad to worse. Where previously she was being thrown around, he'd pulled his knife now. Picasso kept swinging with her hatchets but he always dodged and moved around her. And every time he did that he cut her open somewhere. Nothing vital... he was gonna bleed her out.
By the time I had gotten over to her, she was bleeding bad and down to a knee.
"Not... good enough... again..." spat out Duckie in crude broken sentences... I was kind of surprised he could talk on his own, I have to assume Fracture taught him a few lines to fuck with us.
I moved between him and Picasso. I... he grinned.... what passes for a grin on that big ugly sandpapered face.
I came at him. This was the moment I'd been training for. Everything I had been waiting for... it was finally time to prove I was better than Duckie... but... I wasn't. EVERY attack I made got countered with a hard punch in the kidney. I kept trying. I kept swinging until I could hardly stand and what I was doing turned into a desperate flailing.
I made a huge fucking mistake.
In the middle of the fight I heard Fracture giving new orders to Sloth and Maggot.
"Maggot, plan C."
"Plan C?" asked Sloth. Then he cried out in pain.
"Plan C. Excecute the traitor."
"MOTHERFUCKER."
I tried to turn to look and make sure he was okay. That got me firm first in the gut... I crumpled to the floor gasping for air.
I stared for a moment, wheezing for air and desperately trying to get off the ground.
I could see Nat... trying to help Sloth. Then extreme discomfort as Duckie lifted me to my feet to face him by my head.
"Don't... deserve... mask...WEAK!" declared Duckie. I tried to get free but he didn't give me much time before he pulled his head back and fucking headbutted me in the face. Then things went black for little while.
I didn't stay down long. I about drowned in the blood that had started pooling in my mask. I popped up for air, apparently still at Duckies feet. Apparently Picasso was beside me now. I could hear her.
"OH NO! You're not getting me with that-" she yelled and then suddenly got quiet. "...again...?"
I looked up... apparently Picasso had tried to use her brother's sword... and I guess that didn't work. Because Duckie had it... and he had run her through with it.
I pulled my mask to my face... its cracked to shit now... barely holds together... It looked like that was gonna be it... we were gonna die.
That's when I heard Sloth come charging across the roof.
"N-No! Patrica!" he yelled. He jumped on Duckie's back and threw his weight back, pulling the both of them over to the ledge and away from us. Nat ran over.
"Moth, now's the time if you're gonna do this..."
I... fucked up. She was talking about finishing Duckie... but we were so fucked up... I thought she was telling us to get out of there. I grabbed Picasso and ran... I should have finished Duckie...
I lifted Picasso up and opened a path portal.
Stopped... Turned back for a moment..
"This is how it started, huh, Donald...? Let's end it like this too!" declared Sloth... both of them went off the side of the building... I couldn't watch beyond that... I left through the portal and started bandaging Picasso up in our room. I... assumed they had both died. Apparently not...
...
I wasn't even finished bandaging up Picasso before she started struggling and trying to get to her feet. She pushed me aside. "H-Have... to get back there... KILL... Duckie..."
I grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to sit back down. "Th-They're still there! W-We have to finish this! Th-They're still there! They have to be!"
I stared her down... shook my head. I think that was when she actually realized how fucked up we both where and stopped trying to stand back up.
She glared angrily at the wall as I finished sewing and bandaging her up... snapped my nose back into place.
We were packing up to leave... we had to get the hell out of there and regroup somewhere where Fracture couldn't wait us out with another ambush... that's when there was a knock at the door.
I cautiously looked through the peep hole... I... couldn't believe my eyes. It was Red... she was standing at our door waiting for us... I... I assumed it was a trap. She had a knife in one hand and a mask around her neck. We were heading for the window when she called out. "Hello?! I-I found it for you! I've been good! I-I swear."
...What?
I wasn't about to take anymore chances. I kept moving to climb out the window. I was on the other side of it too... when I realized Picasso had abandoned my plan and opened the door to let Red in.
I climbed back in... as it turned out, Red had come to help us... for some reason. And she came baring Black Lake's doom.
... Stopping point... make this part 1. Need to start moving again.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Not a Gnat
So, I got a tip the other day from a reliable contact. Told me there was a potential ally in the area. They had apparently recently arrived in Black Lake, just by random chance I guess. Gave me an address to visit them. Didn't tell me anything else. One of many draw backs to my vow of silence, I can't request more information. I tend to have to work with what I'm given.
So I hunted down the address. It led me to the outskirts of town to a shitty little motel. Home sweet home.
I went up to the door and I knocked. I was hoping they'd be home. It's one thing when a Masked figure shows up at your door... it's another thing when you come home to one waiting at your door. That tends to freak people right the fuck out. Regardless of if you're a proxy or a runner, it's incredibly fucking disturbing.
Fortunately, she was home. Unfortunately, she was not incredibly receptive to my kind.
The moment the door opened, I got pulled in and shoved against the wall with a knife threateningly held before me. She kicked the door closed with her foot as not to cause a scene as I desperately tried to wrestle the knife away from my throat.
"Another one?" She asked with great disgust. "I'm so fucking sick of hollows showing up to kill me."
Sensing this wasn't about to go well, I shoved her off of me to create some distance. Then a fight began.
Here's a spoiler, I ended my time with her on good enough terms that I'm not about to give away her fighting style or methods by describing the fight. Suffice to say, we fought. It ended like this.
"God I'm so fucking SICK OF THIS SHIT. I HATE FUCKING ZOMBIES."
To which I rolled my eyes expecting her to attack again. But she didn't. Shes quite observant. She caught it.
"... Did you just fucking roll your eyes?"
I nodded.
"You're not a hollow."
I nodded again.
"Why the hell didn't you say so?"
I shrugged. Believe you me, she was not about kill me. I hadn't even brought out the spear. Although she thought I was a hollow... she might not have really been trying... but she was angry like she was trying.
Tough call.
"I might have killed you!"
He shakes my head no. Again, from what I saw in that fight. No.
"Bullshit. I would have."
That went on for a little while...
"Whatever. Just, why the fuck are you here exactly?"
I groaned. This was getting beyond what I could explain with simple body language. So I finally busted out the pen and paper. To which I received a look of disbelief and a glare.
'I got a tip a potential ally was in town at this address,' I wrote.
"The fuck makes you think I'm a potential ally?"
'A tip.'
"Ally for what?"
'Fighting Fracture. Killing Duckie.'
"Oh. You're not a proxy?"
'That's... complicated.'
"Yeah. Me too, I guess. What do you want?"
'Keep safe. Figure out how to get a leg up on Fracture.'
"Why don't you talk?"
'In honor of Father and the Man who originally trained me.'
"You still call the skinny fuck 'father'?"
'I do.'
"I don't think I can help you."
'Because of the Father thing?'
"Because I'm pretty sure I hate the skinny fuck."
'I don't care?'
"I don't think I can work with you if you still sort of work for him."
'You should really talk to Picasso.'
"Who's he?"
I honestly might have corrected her then and there but I was pretty sure she was about to throw me out as it was and it was kind of funny to think of the name Picasso as a boys name after hearing it applied to a girl for the last few years.
'Not a proxy. Hates father and fracture... a lot.'
"So why isn't he here?"
'Pieces of mask glued to the face. Makes it hard to move around in public during the day.'
"Can't he just not glue the mask to his face for the day?"
'It's permanent.'
"No glue is really permanent to skin."
'Glued is an expression. They were seared to directly to the face.'
"Holy crap"
'They don't come off.'
"That's insane."
'I agree.'
"Look, I want to talk to someone who actually talks before I make a call. Does Picasso talk?"
I nodded. 'A lot.'
"Good. Take me to meet him?"
I nodded once more and moved to the door. Waited a moment while she secured the room and we both slipped out to walk to the hotel.
It was a quiet walk for the most part. Sure that was mostly my fault.
"You can afford this?" she asked skeptically as we arrived. I just nodded. No need to get into it with someone who wasn't with us yet how we were being funded. Although, I get the sense she wouldn't have approved in hindsight.
I led her up to our room. It was still littered with mousetraps from before.
"... What's with the mouse traps?"
"THEY WERE PART, of my, CUNNING plan!" yelled Picasso as she leaped unnecessarily from the bathroom in front of us almost tripping over the traps on her landing.
This seemed to concern our guest quite a bit. She looked back and forth at the both of us for a moment rather dumbfounded.
"Who the fuck is this?"
"I!" yelled Picasso taking an overly unnecessary bow, "Am Picasso."
"... I thought Picasso was a dude..."
"I am not old, or ITALIAN!"
"Okay. I can see that."
"WHO are YOU?"
"I'm Nat... I don't work with psychos. Sorry."
The mention of her name made me turn my head. I hadn't realized it was her until that moment. Shit.
"WELL FUCK YOU TOO!" yelled Picasso storming off to her bed to sulk at her sudden rejection.
"Well, she just proved my point. Nice talking to you two."
"DON'T YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION MY FAULT! Own your own shit..."
"Goodbye, you two."
I waved as she left.
Picasso just kind of huffed. "Whatever."
And then Nat was gone. "I DON'T WANT TO KILL HER... she seemed nice... FUCK!" lamented Picasso once she was gone.
I should probably give that some context. Anyone who has refused to help us on our journey so far... has turned on us and eventually came back around to try to kill us... It's hard to expect Nat won't be any different... have to keep an eye out for her...
I'm kind of glad she went though... no offense of course.
Whether she turns on us or not... this might have been for the best.
Moth out.
So I hunted down the address. It led me to the outskirts of town to a shitty little motel. Home sweet home.
I went up to the door and I knocked. I was hoping they'd be home. It's one thing when a Masked figure shows up at your door... it's another thing when you come home to one waiting at your door. That tends to freak people right the fuck out. Regardless of if you're a proxy or a runner, it's incredibly fucking disturbing.
Fortunately, she was home. Unfortunately, she was not incredibly receptive to my kind.
The moment the door opened, I got pulled in and shoved against the wall with a knife threateningly held before me. She kicked the door closed with her foot as not to cause a scene as I desperately tried to wrestle the knife away from my throat.
"Another one?" She asked with great disgust. "I'm so fucking sick of hollows showing up to kill me."
Sensing this wasn't about to go well, I shoved her off of me to create some distance. Then a fight began.
Here's a spoiler, I ended my time with her on good enough terms that I'm not about to give away her fighting style or methods by describing the fight. Suffice to say, we fought. It ended like this.
"God I'm so fucking SICK OF THIS SHIT. I HATE FUCKING ZOMBIES."
To which I rolled my eyes expecting her to attack again. But she didn't. Shes quite observant. She caught it.
"... Did you just fucking roll your eyes?"
I nodded.
"You're not a hollow."
I nodded again.
"Why the hell didn't you say so?"
I shrugged. Believe you me, she was not about kill me. I hadn't even brought out the spear. Although she thought I was a hollow... she might not have really been trying... but she was angry like she was trying.
Tough call.
"I might have killed you!"
He shakes my head no. Again, from what I saw in that fight. No.
"Bullshit. I would have."
That went on for a little while...
"Whatever. Just, why the fuck are you here exactly?"
I groaned. This was getting beyond what I could explain with simple body language. So I finally busted out the pen and paper. To which I received a look of disbelief and a glare.
'I got a tip a potential ally was in town at this address,' I wrote.
"The fuck makes you think I'm a potential ally?"
'A tip.'
"Ally for what?"
'Fighting Fracture. Killing Duckie.'
"Oh. You're not a proxy?"
'That's... complicated.'
"Yeah. Me too, I guess. What do you want?"
'Keep safe. Figure out how to get a leg up on Fracture.'
"Why don't you talk?"
'In honor of Father and the Man who originally trained me.'
"You still call the skinny fuck 'father'?"
'I do.'
"I don't think I can help you."
'Because of the Father thing?'
"Because I'm pretty sure I hate the skinny fuck."
'I don't care?'
"I don't think I can work with you if you still sort of work for him."
'You should really talk to Picasso.'
"Who's he?"
I honestly might have corrected her then and there but I was pretty sure she was about to throw me out as it was and it was kind of funny to think of the name Picasso as a boys name after hearing it applied to a girl for the last few years.
'Not a proxy. Hates father and fracture... a lot.'
"So why isn't he here?"
'Pieces of mask glued to the face. Makes it hard to move around in public during the day.'
"Can't he just not glue the mask to his face for the day?"
'It's permanent.'
"No glue is really permanent to skin."
'Glued is an expression. They were seared to directly to the face.'
"Holy crap"
'They don't come off.'
"That's insane."
'I agree.'
"Look, I want to talk to someone who actually talks before I make a call. Does Picasso talk?"
I nodded. 'A lot.'
"Good. Take me to meet him?"
I nodded once more and moved to the door. Waited a moment while she secured the room and we both slipped out to walk to the hotel.
It was a quiet walk for the most part. Sure that was mostly my fault.
"You can afford this?" she asked skeptically as we arrived. I just nodded. No need to get into it with someone who wasn't with us yet how we were being funded. Although, I get the sense she wouldn't have approved in hindsight.
I led her up to our room. It was still littered with mousetraps from before.
"... What's with the mouse traps?"
"THEY WERE PART, of my, CUNNING plan!" yelled Picasso as she leaped unnecessarily from the bathroom in front of us almost tripping over the traps on her landing.
This seemed to concern our guest quite a bit. She looked back and forth at the both of us for a moment rather dumbfounded.
"Who the fuck is this?"
"I!" yelled Picasso taking an overly unnecessary bow, "Am Picasso."
"... I thought Picasso was a dude..."
"I am not old, or ITALIAN!"
"Okay. I can see that."
"WHO are YOU?"
"I'm Nat... I don't work with psychos. Sorry."
The mention of her name made me turn my head. I hadn't realized it was her until that moment. Shit.
"WELL FUCK YOU TOO!" yelled Picasso storming off to her bed to sulk at her sudden rejection.
"Well, she just proved my point. Nice talking to you two."
"DON'T YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION MY FAULT! Own your own shit..."
"Goodbye, you two."
I waved as she left.
Picasso just kind of huffed. "Whatever."
And then Nat was gone. "I DON'T WANT TO KILL HER... she seemed nice... FUCK!" lamented Picasso once she was gone.
I should probably give that some context. Anyone who has refused to help us on our journey so far... has turned on us and eventually came back around to try to kill us... It's hard to expect Nat won't be any different... have to keep an eye out for her...
I'm kind of glad she went though... no offense of course.
Whether she turns on us or not... this might have been for the best.
Moth out.
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