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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 3, 2010 18:49:45 GMT -5
OOC: Well, that's the halfway mark. And considering how slow the connection is here, y'all will need to wait for tomorrow to get the second half. Expect it up tomorrow evening.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jan 3, 2010 18:52:57 GMT -5
NAIC: I really like it so far. Never having had the chance to read all of Winter (stupid Internet archives and their not having every single page of material from the older boards), this is a really helpful read.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 3, 2010 22:12:31 GMT -5
OOC: It's something of a bit project of mine. This topic holds three purposes: -Introduce Mitzi -Sum up Winter for newbies/people that forgot it -Foreshadow the piss out of one of the plots that comes right after Ishkabibble, which the staff knows about. But the rest of you probably will have a decent guess after this.
I'm hoping that I can use some minor home-grown RPs to clear up a few plots that are too far back for our newer RPers (Blood, Lone, Q, Cendra, etc.) to recall. On the bright side, there's only a handful to take care of for me (The only two others that need any kind of summarizing/recalling are The Invasion of Violet (the true formation of the Cherrygrove Alliance, and the roots of the Obsidian Hearts) and the topic that I forgot the name of, where Sly, Zebedee, and Ender go hopping across dimensions.)
On the bad side, it means that there really won't be that many other topics in this vein for me/Clicker. Though, with any luck, I might be able to get Luigilover in on the next one. That'd be doable.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 0:45:59 GMT -5
"Bull. Every one to some degree is evil, honestly I was just trying to find out who he's with. I never messed with a mafia, though I do know a fair amount about them, I was wondering who they're with." Mitzi paused and walked over to a primitive guitar. Despite herself she giggled at how goofy it looked.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 0:47:07 GMT -5
"Every one is, to some degree, good. I know thieves that risked their lives to save the lives of others, and mercenaries and assassins that lost their jobs and almost starved because the mission would've wrecked families. Even if what somebody does is bad, it's not who they are. And even if they were bad, that doesn't mean it's a good act to take their wallet."
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 0:47:53 GMT -5
"Personally I know I should care more, but he can just report it and get twice as much."
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 0:49:11 GMT -5
"Then you're robbing the-" Thyra stopped talking, spinning as she heard the door behind her swing open. It stopped just short of slamming into the wall, a brick red gloved hand seizing the handle. "Gentlemen," The man swung the door shut behind him and moved in with a confident stride. He had a baseball cap with a short bill, pulled low. He wasn't looking towards the cameras, keeping his sunglasses facing dead ahead. "Shall we begin with the plan?" He pulled the sleeves of his grey trenchcoat back and clapped twice. A few concerned people began to move towards the exit as the suited gentlemen began to unlatch their violin cases.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 0:50:56 GMT -5
Mitzi started laughing and took off her coat laying it on a display.
"I'd take off the shirt, too, but I've nothing underneath," She sighed "I really do hate getting blood on expensive outfits like this. Now the fun begins." The smile melted of her face, being replaced by an apethetic look. Inoccently she meandered, pausing occasionally to see a display. Eventually she was in the midst of the largest crowd of suits unnoticed.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 0:52:48 GMT -5
"And one, two, three-" The men, rushing through the count, had grabbed violins from their cases, put them into a ready pose, and began playing. The music was nervous and screechy, obviously the result of jumping straight into playing. "What are you gentlemen here for?" Thyra asked softly, approaching the coat-clad man.
"We're here to see that organ, mostly. But we figured a serenade might help us out a bit," The man produced a triangle from his pocket, and struck it once, managing to fit the single note into the rising symphony. "So, you're just having a show while you look at this?" "Something like that," The man struck the triangle again. A lace on his coat fluttered even though there was no breeze.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 0:54:34 GMT -5
"Huh..." Mitzi mumbled.
"That's freaky," She said, still eyeing them cautiously. She flinched slightly as the music irritated her ears.
"I hate violins..." She mumbled to nobody in particular.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 0:56:15 GMT -5
"Shameful, shameful. But anyways, I do believe that it is time to begin the show in earnest," The man struck the triangle once more, and then let go of it. It dangled from the hammer. TING! TING! TING! He began spinning the metal rod, the triangle spinning around it and hitting repeatedly.
"And now..." The man spun around, flinging the triangle from his grasp. It hit the plexiglas between the group and the organ, and melted into the barrier. A moment later, the plexiglas simply crumbled to the floor.
"If you all would please exit our stage..." The man clapped twice more, most of the remaining bystanders rushing out of the room.
"I was hoping to stay afterwards, and help wrap things up," Thyra said blandly, producing a length of leather patches and chords from her jacket. She tossed a rock from her pocket into the cradle of the sling, quickly raising it over her head.
"Oh? We've got some stage crashers. Gentlemen?" One of the violinists threw his instrument into the air, and dashed at the girl. Thyra sidestepped his lunge, but was skimmed by the man's bow.
He leaped back wordlessly, catching his violin, and resumed playing. Thyra kept swinging the rock about, but winced suddenly. There was a shallow cut on her side, exactly where he had struck her.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 1:02:23 GMT -5
Another man tossed his instrument towards the ceiling, and lunged at Mitzi with his bow slashing the air. She laughed and jumped away.
"You're stupid!" She ducked under a slash and attempted an uppercut. He pulled back and she bent over and kicked her feet up. She the end of the bow, and forced it to slide through his hand. Fingers hit the floor. Blood spurted, landing on Mitzi's shirt and pants.
"Damn it! That is exactly what I didn't want!" Hearing a suspicious stillness behind her she swung around, fist out, using the gathered momentum to haymaker the man sneaking up on her.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 1:07:45 GMT -5
Two men threw hefted their violins into the air, on opposite sides of Thyra. They both danced in, their weapons glancing off of what seemed to be an invisible wall. Unbothered, they took a few more hasty steps, and caught eachother's instruments as they fell. "And now, I think..." Thyra backstepped, and arched her back, the sling striking one of the attackers in the head. He dropped like a bag of wet sand. She resumed spinning the stone about, and quickly launched it at the leader. The missile glowed gold, moving like it had been shot out of a cannon. "Oh?" The leader flicked his wrist, tossing the hammer on an intercept course with the stone. It struck dead on. There was a deafening blast as the stone exploded, a shimmering wave of light breaking to either side of the man. "Good attempt, but I'm not that easy. The Institute doesn't train fools." "That's good to know," Thyra angled her arms behind her, a string in each hand. A bow struck, snapping like a twig against the leather of the weapon. Thyra twisted, snagging the man's arm in the weapon, and then stepped behind him. There was a loud snap, and the girl drew away, clubbing him in the temple. He fell facedown, mercifully unconscious. "It doesn't seem that either of you are fools, either, though..." The leader produced a slidewhistle from his pocket, "Switch into a full-on attack, gentlemen." The sounds of violins, ever present since the battle had started, now subsided. The remaining men all rushed in, air whistling through the razor-sharp strings of their weapons.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 1:11:55 GMT -5
Mitzi let out a slight chuckle, and side stepped one man rushing her. She then ducked under another and brought her fist up catching him in the nose. Unfortunately she misjudged the impact and stumbled. It was a small stumble but still enough to lose her advantage.
A man in a suit grabbed her and put her in a full nelson.
"Who do you work for?" She gasped. Another man came striding over wielding his bow, as he did so she shuffled her right boot loose. When he'd gotten within six feet she kicked up her feet, propelling the Ugg into the mans gut. When she came down from kicking up she swung her feet back between the man holding her legs and pulled forward with both. This caused them both to topple over with surprising force. Within moments she was up, having only a growing bump on her head and large bruise on her shoulder to show for the scuffle on the floor. The man would not be getting up again for quite some time.
Mitzi would've gone after what appeared to be the leader, but too many suits were blocking her path. This wasn't neccesarily bad, however, because that left Thyra with a decent opening. She wasn't entirely free, but she didn't have to fight on all fronts.
She had shifted from the offensive to deffensive as she dodged, ducked and leaped over the men. Occasionally she got cut, and when opportunity gave she would throw a punch, but for the most part she was just distracting them. When their endurance was lessened, she'd then return to the attack.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 1:22:36 GMT -5
"And here we go-" Thyra slid under a slash, ensnaring a man's leg with her sling. She stood up, flinging her hand back, and dropping the man on his face. Another two men came from behind, faster than she could anticipate.
Both struck home, leaving bloody cuts across her back. They tried to push in, going for a lethal strike, but were repelled by a bubble of force. The men were flung away, slamming into a display case. Thyra winced, trying to put a hand to her back. She wasn't exactly used to taking hits, even now. "Finish!" The leader threw the slidewhistle, the device exploding into thousands of steel needles. They shot straight at the girl, almost as if they were homing in-
There was a sound like rain as they all plummeted to the floor, batted down by intangible force. Thyra cradled another stone, and began spinning it over her head in spite of the agony.
"So, you are truly as competent as our data said you were. Curious, Ms. Russell. Despite being overshadowed by your peers, you still seem to be a valid challenge. For most." The man seized a violin by its neck, lifting it from the floor. It exploded as something expanded from within it, something of steel and wire.
"But don't think that the wiles of Parmigianino can't surpass you cretins!" He rushed at her, swinging a blade the size of a surfboard one-handedly. The weapon slammed into the girl's forcefield, pushing its wielder back with the impact of the blow. A mess of wires, streaming from the back of the weapon, hissed and crackled as they hit the field.
"You know me?"
"I know of you. We make it a point to be familiar with prominent Powers, especially as of late..." The man shoved against Thyra's forcefield, licks of lightning arching from the cables on the back of his sword.
"Then you know that you're wasting your time... This shield has only broken once, Mr. Parmigianino."
"Oh, that's just where I'm from-" The man sidestepped, sparks flying as he glanced off of the barrier. He stepped on another violin. "My name is Keith Outman." The next violin burst, its strings turning into luminous blue chords that encircled Thyra from all sides. "And let's make that twice." The strings suddenly tightened, and the invisible force around the warrior shattered like glass hit by a stone. Thyra quickly jumped out of the way, leaving the chords to collapse upon themselves.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 1:41:52 GMT -5
"Oh," Mitzi exhaled, "Wow," She mumbled without missing a step.
She had learned focus, pay little attention to others not involved in your fight. Focus on the people you are fighting. Are they sweating, are they nervous, are they tired? The answer was yes for most the men she was dodging. She did a handspring over a man, flipping in midair and landing on his neck. He gave a strangled cry, his knees buckling almost instantly. As he fell to the ground she grabbed his bow and charged.
They had lost speed and their reactions had slowed, not much, but still enough. Mitzi, on the other hand, had gained. She slid the bow through the open space in another one, blocking the swing. The man struggled, trying to free his weapon while straining against the girl’s iron grip. She wrenched her own bow ever so slightly, and stepped clear. The man’s swing went wide as she sliced through his bow, and directly into his chest.
Disdainfully, she discarded the bloodied weapon. While she had been messing around with the lackey, more of the men had attempted to sneak up on her.
She dropped down to her hands and spun her legs low to the ground. She tripped one man, blowing his feet out from under him. As he fell she uppercut him, cracking his neck.
Tired of being lopsided, she tugged her other boot off and proceeded to fight the next man to come after her with it. It was a fencing match between a guy with a violin bow and a girl with a boot.
She repeatedly struck the top of the bow, glancing it downward each time that her opponent swung. The man, tiring quickly of this, feinted a slash and then attempted a stab. She put the boot in the way, as he lunged. The bow went threw the sole, through the top, and slightly into her gut. The man smiled a nasty smile of victory.
She reached over the boot and grabbed the handle of the bow, tearing it from his hand. She gritted her teeth, then ripped the tip from her side. She then bludgeoned the man with her boot until she had an opening to kick him unconscious.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 1:51:27 GMT -5
"So, the barrier isn't much good then?" Thyra let the stone from her sling fly. Keith batted it aside with a swipe from the peculiar blade, and continued with the motion. He spun into a second slash, aimed to slice the girl off at the knees. "But neither is that weapon," Thyra jumped over the attack, landing on the side of the sword. She kicked off of it, somersaulting through the air. In mid-flip, she planted her hands, sling between them, on the man's shoulders. She landed, bearing her opponent to the floor. With his grasp on the weapon lost, it dissolved into sparks and splinters. "Hm?" Thyra paused for a moment, puzzled by the disappearance. "Ah, you wouldn't know, would you?" Keith seized another violin lying on the floor, and brought it up, pointed directly at Thyra, "Of course, nobody would." There was a blast as the bottom of the violin exploded, bits flying in all directions. Thyra winced, a few pieces hitting her with enough force to break skin. She had dodged whatever had emerged from within, though. Judging by the swiss-cheese effect it had on the ceiling, that was a very fortunate avoidance. "That's the advantage of having learnt an entirely new style of casting. What you're experiencing now are the fruits of the Pyrrhic Symphony school, something that nobody outside the Institute has had the privilege of observing until now-" The man clambered to his feet, lowering the weapon to keep it level with Thyra. It was a shotgun with a stock resembling the neck of a violin. He cocked it. "So, there's still flaws-" Thyra cradled another stone, the air around her distorting as the invisible wall rose again. "Just like your forcefield, girl. We, at Parmigianino, focus on two things: Point one... Harvesting from peculiar sources of energy, like, say, the magic inherent in music itself, accumulated upon used instruments," The man waved a glove broadly, indicating the scattering of violins on the floor.
"And Point Two: solving problems DIRECTLY. For example, your bubble, my gun?" Thyra dove for the floor, a shot ripping through where she had been a moment earlier and blowing out a massive chunk of the wall.
"One of our better designs, really," He stepped closer, standing over Thyra. He cocked the weapon again as if loading it, despite the lack of ammunition.
"And I assure you, girl, that that was not a fluke. Move a muscle, and I'll put the next shot through your heart."
Thyra lowered her eyes, smiling faintly. A noise, somewhere between a sob and a laugh escaped her throat.
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 2:05:25 GMT -5
"That sucks," Mitzi said, letting the guy she had previously been pummeling slump to the floor. That was the last of the lackies. Glancing at how her friend was doing made her slightly mad.
She had been fighting all these useless stupid people, but not once did she lose complete track of the other guy. You always should keep all your foes in mind as a precaution, in case your own ally fails. That was the first rule of fighting in groups. This man, however had the nerve to forget completey about her.
Mitzi put a hand on her hip and glared. She sighed heavily with no affect, not catching so much as a glance from either Thyra or Outman. One of the underlings groaned, falling silent again after Mitzi kicked him in the ribs. She broke into a run, coming in from behind the gunman. Her steps were almost noiseless, a key detail. If your opponent has a gun, the safest place to be was always in their mental blind-spot.
Keith turned just in time to see her flying at him. He raised the gun, but Mitzi grabbed the barrel, and twisted it. Letting go to avoid having his fingers broken, the man's grip on the weapon was lost. On the ground both scrambled for the gun. He seized it first, and pointed it at her grinning.
"Just because I dismissed one thing doesn't mean anything I drop will vanish. Big mistake on your part," He went to pull the trigger, only to have the barrel kicked from below. Another shot went into the ceiling. Mitzi followed her momentum, backflipping, and then bounced into a front flip. Both of her heels slammed into his nose with a satisfying crunch. She snagged the gun out of the air, and pointed it directly at her fallen foe.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 2:08:46 GMT -5
"That's a shame, really," He stood up, wiping at the blood on his face. "Not only did we fail to procure that reagent for our next test, but I also failed at using the boss' new style in combat. She's gonna think I was a total dweeb," He extended a hand, the gun in Mitzi's grasp dissolving. "But hey, there's lots of antique organs in Europe. Cathedrals and such. So I guess we'll just do our shopping there," The man reached into his jacket, keeping the other hand up in the air. He produced a harmonica. "Don't- URK!" The man choked on his words as a boot richocheted off of his forehead. He licked his lips, and then spat the blood to the floor. "I'm just-" He sighed, seeing Mitzi readying another shoe. He blew into the harmonica, the noise rising in pitch until it became almost inaudible. There were a series of popping noises, each of the unconscious men vanishing in bursts of white light. The last to disappear was the leader, a disapproving frown on his face. "Huh. It seems I can't even go to museum without having pandemonium errupt around me these days," Thyra smiled to Mitzi, "By the way, thanks for your help."
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 2:11:29 GMT -5
"No problem, I really enjoy a good fight, but I would like to understand what I was fighting for?" She glanced around. "Perhaps we could go out for a coffee and you could tell me? I did see a killer café,"Mitzi walked over to where she had put her stuff at the start of the fight, and grabbed her coat.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 2:15:41 GMT -5
"Personally, I was thinking about visiting this cute little place called The Hospital. You know, sterilization, stitches, pain killers?" Thyra wrapped her sling tightly around her wrist, and then pulled her jacket back over it again. "On the bright side, though, we did keep that guy from making off with a priceless antique organ. Judging by what he was doing with those other instruments, he was probably just going to blow that thing to kingdom come, too," She shrugged, and then winced slightly.
"Come on, let's go get patched up. I'll treat. Maybe they'll give me a bargain for buying stitches in bulk?"
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Clicker
Joyeuse Insurgency
Trunk Monkey Thief Retriever
They're more fun airborne.
Posts: 236
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Post by Clicker on Jan 6, 2010 2:18:27 GMT -5
"I don' wanna!" Mitzi mock whined, "Though, seriously, hospitals do give me the creepy crawlies."
"But..." She put a finger to her chin.
"I really don't get out enough. Ehhh... let's go." She headed for the front entrance, aimed to leave the way they had came in.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 2:23:26 GMT -5
"Oh, don't worry, we should be in and out. They don't like people bleeding all over their lobby furniture, so they'll probably bring us right on through," Thyra's smile took on a slightly distant quality to it.
"After that, how about we look around for an instrument store? I'm wondering how much a viola would cost me." THE END
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 6, 2010 2:25:14 GMT -5
OOC: And that is that. All of the writing I did with Clicker while she was home, uploaded for your viewing pleasure.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled waiting for Lee to post.
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