My Hero [Jackal] [Quest]

[Vriska]

All things considered it wasn't a bad kiss. She'd had better, but they could work on that. Jackal's lips were hot, and Vriska could detect a strange aftertaste she could only assume was from the earlier shadowfire. It wasn't a pleasant one, which made Vriska glad it was short. And then it was once more into the breach.

And then the breach exploded.

The blast wave knocked Vriska on her back, but she got to her feet soon enough. She'd been away from the worst of the blast. Jackal had been dead-center. She'd made a promise and sealed it with a kiss, but if it came down to it, Vriska knew it was her job to die.

Still deafened by the blast, Vriska didn't catch most of Victor's speech. She did catch his grenade, though. And threw it back, which would have to do for a retort. "JACKAL!" She shouted to try and hear herself above the ringing in her ears. "GET UP! MOVE!"

Drawing her sword, Vriska faced Victor. "VICTOR, LAST NAME UNKNOWN, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR REASONS I WILL LIST WHEN I CAN HEAR A GODDAMN THING! COME QUIETLY! SERIOUSLY, NO MORE BOMBS!"

Oh wait she'd just thrown one at him. OH WELL.

---

Actions; Block-Catch | Knifegrenade toss

[Jackal]

x x

Premonition

Her everything hurt.

A lot.

She tried to move, but her limbs would barely so much as twitch. Oh, she felt a bit of feeling in her legs and arms. She tried to get back to her feet, but sort of stumbled and fell on all fours.

Great. She tried to say something witty but her tongue still felt like lead, and when she tried to make a noise it just sort of came out as this sort of strangled, clicking rattle that ended in a growl. Well that's attractive, she thought dryly.

Her limbs were still barely functional, so she let herself collapse and reached out to Vriska's shadow. That was the one she wanted. The bent it to her will, bringing it over to her, pooling it about herself. A sort of pained smile formed on her face.

---

Actions;;

---

Victor frowned at Vriska, matting back his long, scraggly brown hair. The trenchcoat he was wearing was kinda filthy, but it got the job done, and had more pockets on it than he could count. Most of them were filled with explosives and pyrotechnics. He snorted when Freak 1 sort of stumbled around on the ground a bit, but not so much when Freak 2 tossed his own ingenious contraption right back at him dammit.

The knife dug into his shoulder. Then he realized that the grenade was seconds from going off. And he was wearing at least seventeen bombs. Swearing loudly--and colourfully--he ripped it out--ow ow ow ow ow--and got the hell out of there, running up to the dragonish one. The grenade behind him went boom. He looked at her. Jackal, wasn't it? The one he'd fram--oh that had been a good one. One of his more exceptionally clever schemes.

He looked at her and sneered, before he stomped his boot on the ground. A knife came out of it, and then he kicked her right in her chest. Then he looked at Vriska and spat. He also threw another grenade at her. This one did not have a knife. It also had a really short timer.

---

Actions;;

[/i][/ul]

---

Players

Vriska

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; strongARM
Status;; THERE IS A LIVE GRENADE AT YOUR FEET![/ul]

Jackal

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; 1 Shadow
Status;; Will be all right next turn... also, STABBED[/ul]

Enemies

Victor, THE DIRECT DOUCHEBAG

[/b][/color]
Range;; Out of range of VRISKA!, In range of JACKAL!
Status;; COMPETENT LEADER (when Victor has damage, he gains an action slot. If anyone is reading this NO REGULAR MEMBERS CAN NOT GET THIS ABILITY)[/ul][/blockquote]

[Vriska]

Vriska allowed herself a moment of triumph when she saw the grenade hit Victor knife-first. That moment was ruined when he ripped the knife out and ran. Shielding her face from the blast, Vriska was only seconds too late from stopping Victor from reaching Jackal and holy shit he stabbed her.

He stabbed her right in the chest. The fact that Vriska was failing in her duty enraged her beyond reason. This was odd. If it had been any other civilian Vriska wouldn't have reacted this strongly. Determination and anger, yes, but rage? Somehow this had become personal. Leaping away from Victor's grenade, Vriska opened her Vision Eightfold and settled her curses on him. The grenade exploded with Vriska out of its range, and she brought up an arm to shield her face from any shrapnel. More than anything, Vriska needed to keep her eyes on her opponent. "Take a hint and surrender!"

Actions; Maneuver | Vision Eightfold

Effects; [White Seal (6) - Target may not regain health.] [Weaken (6) - Target's damage is reduced by half a level.] [Hex (6) - Values of all positive buffs affecting target are decreased by one.] [Turnabout (6) - Vriska gains half-level regenaration. Vriska gains half-level damage increase. Values of all positive buffs affecting Vriska are increased by one.] [STRONGarm - Vriska gains half-level damage increase.]

Target; Victor

[Jackal]

x x

Premonition

Jackal began to struggle to her feet, feeling that the pain had finally begun to rece---

An inhuman shriek shot out of her mouth as the blade pierced her chest, leaving a deep, painful wound. She fell backwards onto her butt, a series of low growls and clicks coming from her throat, as though a wolf and a rattlesnake both agreed that they were phenomenally pissed off. Any sense of consciousness, any sense of humanity had bled completely from her mind and all she knew was that she had claws and teeth and she wanted to hurt that man. She suddenly launched herself at Victor, and went for his throat with her teeth. The man screamed, half in revulsion, half in fear, and knocked her back, but she slashed open his chest with the blades on her arms, hissing in rage, her ears flat against the back of her skull. Blood was all across her chin, and it wasn't hers. Her own blood was coming from the hole in her chest, and the snarl on her face spoke of animal fury.

DIEDIEDIE.

---

Actions;;

---

WHAT THE HELL SHE BIT HIM.

More to the point, she did not have the dainty, friendly teeth of a woman, either. She had those two big bloody fangs that nearly punctured his damn jugular. He slapped a hand to the gash at his throat, astonished at how deep the wound was, and how painful, until the girl slashed him in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards. He spat at her, and back-pedalled, unfortunately doing so with less comic grace than his loyal companion, Frank.

"Bloody hell! I know you look like a freak but I didn't know you bit like a dog!" He spat again, and pulled a potion out of his jacket. He drank it ... and it didn't work.

"What the hell is going on?!" Victor yelled, finally deciding that Vriska was worth his direct attention. Then he pulled a gun from his pocket.

Well, it was an extremely crude flint gun that only worked once. But it packed a hell of a punch. He pointed it at Vriska, and shot. A strange white barrier appeared in front of his gun (WEAKEN) before the bullet exited, but it still sped at Vriska faster than you could blink, punching a small, but extremely painful hole in her shoulder, the one that wasn't metallic. He laughed, then tossed the now useless gun aside.

---

Actions;;

[/i][/ul]

---

Players

Vriska

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; strongARM, Turnabout
Status;; BEEN SHOT.[/ul]

Jackal

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; 2 Shadows
Status;; Normal. If "feral and crazy" is normal.[/ul]

Enemies

Victor, THE DIRECT DOUCHEBAG

[/b][/color]
Range;; Out of range of VRISKA!, Out of range of JACKAL!
Status;; COMPETENT LEADER (when Victor has damage, he gains an action slot. If anyone is reading this NO REGULAR MEMBERS CAN NOT GET THIS ABILITY), Vision Eightfold[/ul][/blockquote]

[Vriska]

At some point this had gone from a bust to a no-holds-barred beatdown. First one to drop loses the race. And that pistol almost dropped Vriska then and there. The sudden jolt of pain made her eyes cross and her vision blur as for the second time today someone hit her in the goddamn shoulder. She supposed she should have been grateful that Victor was dumb enough to use guns.

She wasn't grateful for being shot, though.

Bulling through the pain, Vriska charged Victor and aimed a left-handed steel punch at his torso in what Sentinel recruits had fondly dubbed the 'Rib-Rattler.'

Actions; Maneuver | Attack

Effects; [White Seal (5) - Target may not regain health.] [Weaken (5) - Target's damage is reduced by half a level.] [Hex (5) - Values of all positive buffs affecting target are decreased by one.] [Turnabout (5) - Vriska gains half-level regenaration. Vriska gains half-level damage increase. Values of all positive buffs affecting Vriska are increased by one.] [STRONGarm - Vriska gains half-level damage increase.]

Target; Victor

[Jackal]

x x

Premonition

hatredVictorbutVriskahappyDIEDIEDIEBURNINFIRE

Jackal was now on all fours, not only because there was a hole in her chest and her legs felt like they weren't going to be functioning at full capacity for a while, but particularly because the half of her that was a dragon had completely taken over. Her human mind was too wounded from all that was going on, overwhelmed with too much information that she wasn't used to, so the stronger one, the dragon, was taking over, even if it didn't have its most powerful form. Actually turning into a dragon didn't even occur to her: that required direct thought, whereas now she was operating entirely on instinct.

Survival, though, was instinctual. And the Dragon knew it could become Invisible; it didn't comprehend that it had to become a dragon. It always was a dragon. It had its teeth and its claws and its wings, did it not?

stormsstormsoffireFIREFIREFIRE.

Suddenly, her body began to vanish, and she snarled viciously before going utterly silent, the reptile in the dragon receding as the wolf was of less use. She moved mechanically, precisely, and found her way near to Victor. Then she drank in all her Shadowfire--forgetting again that she was not a dragon--and shot it out of her mouth, still Invisible. Burning Victor as she'd burned the other man.

---

Actions;;

---

Not one of Victor's better days.

First, that chick had punched him in the chest. Which HURT. But more to the point, the other girl vanished. Then, all of a sudden, there was this terrible metallic shriek and he was being bathed in black flame.

OW.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" he yelled, having forgotten about Jackal's most famous talent. Once more he backed away, regretting he had not taken Frank's "Bumblin' 'n' Stumblin'" seminar. Then he pulled a grenade and tossed one at Jackal, and tossed one at Vriska. He had to buy himself some damn time now that his potions didn't work.

---

Actions;;

[/i][/ul]

---

Players

Vriska

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; strongARM, Turnabout
Status;; GRENADEMOVE[/ul]

Jackal

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; 0 Shadows
Status;; Invisibility, GRENADE. AAAA[/ul]

Enemies

Victor, THE DIRECT DOUCHEBAG

[/b][/color]
Range;; Out of range of VRISKA!, Out of range of JACKAL!
Status;; COMPETENT LEADER (when Victor has damage, he gains an action slot. If anyone is reading this NO REGULAR MEMBERS CAN NOT GET THIS ABILITY), Vision Eightfold, Shadowburn[/ul][/blockquote]

[Vriska]

[[OOC: By now Turnabout has regenerated one level of health]]

It was close. Very close. Vriska could feel the heat of the Shadowfire on her face as Jackal let loose. Something was wrong here. She suspected that Jackal might not quite be herself, what with the whole trying to rip out Victor's jugular with her teeth.

But they were winning, even though Jackal seemed to be intent on killing him. Vriska hoped she would come to her senses and realize that they needed him mostly alive to clear her name.

Again Vriska repeated her earlier tactic, jumping away from the grenade and aiming a hammerblow at Victor's anything, because by now she really just wanted to break him.

Actions; Maneuver | Attack

Effects; [White Seal (4) - Target may not regain health.] [Weaken (4) - Target's damage is reduced by half a level.] [Hex (4) - Values of all positive buffs affecting target are decreased by one.] [Turnabout (4) - Vriska gains half-level regenaration. Vriska gains half-level damage increase. Values of all positive buffs affecting Vriska are increased by one.] [STRONGarm - Vriska gains half-level damage increase.]

Target; Victor

[Jackal]

[OOC: Shit, my bad, I forgot. Last time she had the bleed status effect that basically cancelled it. But it's working this time. I'll edit that in this time.

x x

Premonition

badfirenotmyffiregetaway

Still moving on all fours, with alarming speed, Jackal came back into view and ran at Victor like a feral wolf--or maybe a cheetah was a better comparison, the way her legs moved as one unit while her arms did the same, moving in and out as her chest beat like a forge to keep her body moving. Her lungs, though Jackal didn't know it, were huge, far larger than normal, and were tied to a particularly resilient body. She was as fast as a cat, as relentless as a snake, and as vicious as a dragon.

She was also usually as smart as a person. But that wasn't really such an issue right now. When Vriska hit Victor in the chest, he nearly collapsed, brought to his knees. Jackal moved like a blur, her eyes glowing a red streak, and readied her claws for the kill. Two quick strokes, that was all it would take--

novriskasaidvriskasaidALIVE.ISAIDALIVE.

She stopped, slowly remembering who she was, poised over Victor, her claws inches from his throat, her fangs bared and dripping with blood. It began to dawn on her just how absolutely feral she must've looked in front of Vriska. She'd tried to rip his throat out, and had nearly succeeded. She didn't know why she'd regained consciousness, but she had, and it was just soon enough. Eyes still going, she ripped off Victor's trenchcoat and downed a bottle of his potion. Then she found the others and tossed one to Vriska. Then she broke all but one.

"Mmmm-mmmm-mraak-kk-kkk-kkk-kkk" Jackal tried her throat, but it wasn't working right, and sounded more like some lizard's warning rattle than anything else. Her vocal chords had suddenly grown unaccustomed to using human speech. She snarled, hissed, and tried again. "My SHHHHHH-shadowfire ..." she pointed at Victor's chest. "Will kkkkkill you from the inside out. Burn." She raised a potion, then drank nearly all of it. She left a sparse amount of fluid. "Vr-issssssssskaaaaaahhhhsssss." She tried to get the word out and clutched her throat, suddenly furious with her own damn body for being so damn strange and not doing what she wanted it to. She felt like a little girl again, scared of what new thing might stick out of her this week, trying to cut away the scales, horrified as two of her toes just seemed to shrivel up and die, oh the pain.

nonononononono. Tears were dripping down her cheeks, but Victor didn't notice. He was too busy burning and writhing in pain and such. She forced the tears back. This was who she was. No use being sad about it. She calmed herself down, and breathed deeply. She focused on the good thoughts, on Rwaht trying so hard to help her, on meeting Vriska, on a cool breeze in the shade on a warm day ... she realized her eyes were closed. She opened them, and they were no longer glowing. She tried her throat again. It worked.

"Vriska, you need to take that curse off him, whatever it is, so he can drink this thing and keep himself alive. If he doesn't, my Shadowfire will burn through him in a matter of moments," Jackal said calmly, her voice strong as iron, flexible as velvet, betraying none of its former weakness. She couldn't afford to show weakness; Victor would take advantage of it. Probably not while she still had her claws inches from his throat, though. She was just terrified. She'd basically become a beast again--without actually becoming a beast--in front of the one person she could kindasorta call a friend in the world. Maybe she even wanted it to be more. But now ... look at her. Victor's blood was running down her lips, which were stained black from the shadowfire she'd spewed. But she showed none of it. She looked back at Victor. "We keep you alive. You tell the Knights that I did not do those things you did. That I'm innocent. Any funny quips about how ha ha yer not innocent look at the blood or whatever and so help me Goddesses you will feel pain,"

[/i] Jackal snarled, her face moving closer to Victor's and taking on the animalistic quality once more. There was no doubt that the threat was genuine.

Defeated, Victor nodded his head.

---

Actions;;

---

Players

Vriska

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; strongARM, Turnabout
Status;; None[/ul]

Jackal

[/b][/color]
Passive abilities;; 0 Shadows
Status;; [/ul]

Enemies

Victor, THE DIRECT DOUCHEBAG

[/b][/color]
Range;; Out of range of VRISKA!, Out of range of JACKAL!
Status;; COMPETENT LEADER (when Victor has damage, he gains an action slot. If anyone is reading this NO REGULAR MEMBERS CAN NOT GET THIS ABILITY), Vision Eightfold, Shadowburn - 2 more turns of 1/2 level damage[/ul][/blockquote]

[Vriska]

The fight was over. Victor collapsed, defeated.

And Jackal moved in for the kill. "Jackal, no! Enough!"

Thankfully, Jackal seemed to come to her senses, as she disarmed Victor and looted him for potions. Vriska downed hers immediately, noting that this one was of a significantly higher quality than the one she'd drank before. It was less like fire under her skin and more like slipping into a warm bath. What was in this stuff? Was that cognac?

She smiled ironically as she realized she was actually developing a pallet for healing potions.

Vriska's heart broke for Jackal as she tried to force herself into forming something resembling words. She knew what it was like, not being able to speak. Having to wrap your tongue around syllables that twisted and swung and were so similar to the Sky Language and yet horribly different.

Seeing Jackal cry hurt in a way she hadn't really hurt before. She wanted to say something, do something that would make her feel better. But what? All she could do was stand there and make a note to learn how to deal with crying animal-women.

A look of uncertainty passed her face at Jackal's request. Lift the White Seal? She'd never tried lifting one of her curses before. Her Vision Eightfold was closed, but the curses had always kept ticking away. There was no sense of time, no mental switch she could pull or counter she could reset, only the feeling that burning to death was a wonderful death for a man like Victor. Huh.

Keeping in mind Victor's eventual fate - and the fate of his entire organization - Vriska nodded. "Try now." There was a feeling of something being lifted. It was something of a close cousin to disappointment. A whisper in her heart that told her he should have burned.

Squatting down besides Jackal, Vriska put a hand on her back and took the hand Jackal had to Victor's throat in her own. "We did it. We won."

[Jackal]

x x

Premonition

When Vriska said that she'd tried to remove the seal, Jackal forced the potion down Victor's throat. It was clear that he'd recovered a little--not much, but just enough. By the time the shadowfire was done with him, he'd be barely clinging to life, but at least he'd be alive. He could be restored to good health later, on someone else's watch. She was surprised when Vriska took her hand, knowing full well what that hand was. What Jackal was. Blood was still all over her chin, and she suddenly felt terrible shame, which had to be the first time in years. She used her teeth all the time, just ... not as a person. Somehow, it seemed wrong. She just wished there had been no one there to see it. But if there hadn't ... Jackal would be dead. Vriska had saved her life. Jackal stared at Vriska's hand, then her face, and slowly began to get back to her feet, letting Victor slump against the ground. Nearly dead, he didn't pose much of a threat. At the last minute, she ripped off his boots. That dagger had hurt. Then she turned to Vriska. She hated that her cheeks were still stained with tears and blood, but she couldn't take any of that back, now.

"I ... I'm sorry. Thank you. I don't know what to do now. I just kill things." She gestured helplessly at Victor's prone form. He started to make a gesture, but Jackal's ears went flat against her skull and her face contorted into a cruel grimace, her fangs bared. That shut him up. Then she remembered Vriska was still here. Dammit.

[Vriska]

Rising with Jackal, Vriska took a step closer to her so they were standing side by side, intimately close. She reeked of blood and sweat and a simultaneously bitter, sour and sweet twist on her breath that Vriska could only credit to the shadowfire. She wondered what it was like to walk around with that kind of magic in you every day. To have turned a power that seemed to be massively destructive in its default state and not only master it but turn it to good use was incredible.

Besides, Vriska figured she herself wasn't smelling much better.

After Jackal's control slipped again, Vriska brought her left hand up to run a hand up her cheekbone and to her neck in a gesture that was entirely needlessly affectionate but Vriska didn't really care. "That's why I'm here, Shayu," she told her in a quiet whisper, far below the traumatized Victor's range of hearing but just right for their part-minish senses. She left it open exactly what she meant by 'that'. "First we deliver Victor to the castle," she listed, sliding her hand down to Jackal's upper arm, the steel easily rebuffing the scales. "Then we go to my house so I can wash and change into something less bloody." Her hand continued on its journey until Vriska was holding both of Jackal's hands in hers and pressing her forehead to hers like she'd done before. "After that, well, me being hungry is still a thing that's happening. Let's celebrate. You and me."

[Jackal]

x x

Kyoku de Ajia

Jackal froze when Vriska touched her, her mind still a little mixed up from all that had gone on in the fight. She was deeply thankful that Victor was now passed out, or she wouldn't have bet good money on her ability to control herself while that thing was there. Her breathing suddenly seemed heavier, and when Vriska said Jackal's name, she went absolutely still, ears frozen, eyes wide open. Then, slowly, she relaxed. She closed her eyes, trying to sort out her head. Eventually, she relaxed enough to start breathing normally, and she smiled apologetically. She was amazed that Vriska didn't want to just leave her now that she'd revealed just how ... well, vicious she could be. Remembering herself, she tried to wipe the blood from her chin. She managed to get most of it off. Then she found that Vriska was holding her hands and looking straight into her eyes. Jackal blinked. She wasn't used to looking at people in their eyes, or at least, wasn't used to caring about it. The look on her face must've been spectacularly stupid, as she sort of stared, wide-eyed, with her mouth opened.

thinkthinkthinkthinkCome on, Jackal, pull yourself together. Without realizing what she was doing, she raised one of her hands, taking Vriska's with it, then splayed her palm outwards, letting it match hers. She'd raised Vriska's robot arm, though she hadn't really meant to. It was strange to see her hand against someone else's. She smiled.

"After we drop him off, and clean ourselves up ... the first thing I want to do is see my brother again."

[Vriska]

Vriska couldn't help but smile. She didn't grin or smirk or do one of those strangled twitches of her mouth Rwaht seemed to be so fond of (Would she see him smile when they reunited?) but she genuinely smiled. Vriska could do a surprisingly sweet smile considering she had the mouth of a shark.

She could feel Jackal's hand against hers, but she couldn't feel it. She was aware of a pressure against her palm in the same way she was aware that the house they'd just blown up used to be red. For the first time in a long time, Vriska felt that desperate loss she'd thought was gone. She longed to feel the heat of Jackal against her skin. She gripped Jackal's remaining hand in her, well, remaining hand tighter. The night was cold and she was warm and they were both so very much alive.

Still holding Jackal's hand, Vriska reached down and grabbed Victor with her left, the steel easily holding his weight. "Let's go clear your names, Shayu."

Then she led the way to Hyrule Castle, confident in counting tonight as a win.

EXIT

[Jackal]

[OOC: Will post with Rwaht to distribute phatloot]
x x

Kyoku de Ajia

Jackal was bloody, beaten, bruised, in many ways angry, and more than a little starving.

But, for the first time in years, she was also--and she was just guessing here because the feeling was sort of a strange new one--happy. She was going to be able to see her brother again. The thought made her smile. Yet ... somehow that was not the thought which most dominated her mind. She kept thinking of the woman who stood by her side, the one who had literally risked her life for someone that she barely knew. That was more than admirable, it was damn heroic. It was still really strange to hear someone actually calling her Shayu. She hadn't heard that name in years.

But she had to admit, in a way, it was nice. And she supposed Vriska had earned it.

Besides, Jackal thought with a very morbid sense of satisfaction, Victor was finally going to get what was coming to him. And with her brother dealing the justice, she had a feeling that said justice would be appropriately final. Her hand in Vriska's--which felt weird but oh well--she left Victor's little hideout. She thought she saw another gangster so she turned his shadow into fire and he sort of panicked and ran into a wall. She laughed.

[EXIT]

[Rwaht]

TIME FER GOODIES.

50 rupees apiece.

Also, both participants get 3 free Quest Aid items from the shop and 1 free Restorative. So, go nuts, Vio, and ... me.

Lock'd 'n' moved. Rupees given.