savetheearth | Gangsters and chainsaws and antiquers, oh my!

Kanti fires back a text rather rapidly that is a solid "Absolutely". She's been working mornings ever since school let out, preferring to use her evenings to do such wonderful things like watching movies, gardening, and slowly working on her eventual life as a recluse. As a result, she's got plenty of time to spend time with other numbers folk.

"Where would you like to meet?"

"Well, I think there's one at [address that could be wrong], so we could meet there, or here, or we could pick you up!

"I'll meet you there. I wouldn't want to be a bother."

It doesn't take long for her to gather up her things, though she does tend to be overly prepared when she packs-- phone, Taser, scrap paper, pencil, tablet computer, gum, house keys, basic make-up, duct tape, stapler, super glue --usually only things that are probably necessary. She hesitates for a moment before snatching the lipstick off her table. It's heavy in her hand, but she's already used to carrying it, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

She makes her way to the address because Kanti can actually infer directions from that sort of thing. Also, GoogleMaps. Where she ends up is... not where she expects to be.

The couple was waiting when Kanti arrived, although they looked a bit confused themselves.

"Are you sure it's on this street?"

"I thought it was, but maybe it's a couple turns in the other dir- oh, hi buddy!"

He starts waving toward Kanti ecstatically, with Miria joining in not long after.

At the least, it isn't hard to find the Dians, waving as they are, and Kanti jogs over to them briskly. She waves back when she's a little closer and continues until she stops in front of them and smiles. It's odd, meeting two people she doesn't know well, but they come off as bright and reassuring and she doesn't feel threatened at all.

Kanti smiles at them, and though it's small, it's genuine. "Hello. Um... Are we sure this is the right place?"

It doesn't intimidate her so much, despite it's look, but she was hoping for ice-cream to pep her up from that bus ride. That, and there has been some reports of a new gang.

Isaac scratches his head in thought.

"I thought it was around here, but maybe I have the wrong address?"

He shifts through some pockets, trying to figure out if there's a note to self he misread or something. Miria takes the moment to introduce herself.

"I'm Miria by the way! Pleased to meet you!"

Hearty hand-shaking is always a go.

Kanti extends her hand into Miria's and is pretty surprised by the strength and enthusiasm behind the handshake. She counts to ten before letting go and pulling back. Ten seconds seems the optimum amount of time for a handshake.

Afterward, she looks at them both and then at their surroundings. "Maybe we should find a more well-lit area before we start to get out bearings?" She offers, smile sort of fading into nervousness. It's not that she's scared of the dark, but it makes her glowing elbows a little more obvious.

Isaac looks up at Kanti's words.

"What a great idea!"

And they quickly start pulling their buddy toward the closest bright area they can find. Because by golly, they are getting ice cream like they promised NO MATTER WHAT.

Kanti isn't really used to being accepted so quickly by people. Of course it's not usually the fault of the person so much as it is Kanti's for slowly amping up her weirdness until it brings on inevitable discomfort. She expects the same to happen later, but now she's being tugged towards brighter places and doesn't really mind.

"Once we get there..." she pauses and trails off, mildly embarrassed. "I don't suppose either of you has some sort of GPS on you, do you?"

She had used a printed map to get here, since she still hasn't caught up and gotten a smartphone, and unfortunately, this area is outside her expertise.

Truth be told, the couple was a little afraid they came on too strong at times. It was just the idea of having friends and enjoying things with friends made them.. very happy. Their attitude seemed to be a welcome sight in college (and partly how they met each other, at least). But as the years went on, most of their old friends seemed to keep their distance. They try not to think about that, though. Just live in the moment, enjoy things while you can.

At the question, the couple immediately halts the march. They stay completely still for a minute before suddenly turning back toward Kanti with looks of horror.

"We..."

"Don't..."

Clearly this is serious business now.

Kanti stares at them both, gaze flicking from Miria to Isaac, then looks down at her own feet and sighs.

"I suppose we're all just as terrible with modern technology as each other. Hm..."

She looks around for someone they may be able to ask for directions, but there isn't really much she can see. Well... There are some suspicious-acting individuals in some shadows a ways away, but they're not the kind of people she'd like to ask for directions.

"How did you get here again?"

They notice her looking around and follow the direction of her eyes.

"We sort of walked here..."

"It's not too far away, so-"

Miria suddenly grabs the other and points to the TOTALLY LEGIT LOOKING PEOPLE IN SHADOWS.

"Hey, why don't we ask them for directions?"

Kanti looks at the Dians back and forth again and, in the back of her mind, realizes that this may be a staple of her life now. Looking back and fourth at people making ridiculous suggestions.

"We shouldn't," she says a little weakly. "They don't look very friendly."

It's the kindest way she can say what is blaring in her head, which is 'They look like they would cut us open just to see if we swallowed anything valuable at some point'. At least, that's what they seem to be radiating. She can't tell entirely. They look like they're wearing sunglasses.

She waves off the comment.

"Nah, I think they look pretty trustworthy!"

"You know, they do seem like they know the neighborhood!"

Totally the best plan.

It hardly seems to matter what they actually would like to do, because as soon as the bespectacled individuals catch sight of them, they move out of the shadows and into the light. Kanti is against going over there, but she's also not going to leave the Dians to go it alone. She slips a hand away from Isaac's grip for a moment, patting the pocket of her jeans.

The lipstick is heavy in her pocket, but small and unobtrusive.

"If you say so..." She's skeptical and reluctant, but Kanti does not leave her friends to trouble.

A quick thumbs up from the couple.

"Glad to see you agree!"

They quickly spin around and head toward the suspicious looking group. As they reach closer, the couple start waving frantically.

"Hello there! How are you doing this evening?"

"We were just wondering if you cou-"

WELP, THAT'S DEFINITELY A PIPE, A KNIFE, AND VARIOUS OTHER WEAPONS.

Kanti has terrible timing and a quick wit, and combined with her various other creepy traits, is probably another reason why she has no friends.

"I don't want to say I told you so..." she starts, then trails of and holds both of the Dians' hands a little tighter, trying to pull them backwards and away from the general group of menacing gentlemen with weapons. If all else fails, she can probably hurt a few of them severely, though she'd rather not have to.

The couple allow Kanti to pulp them back, too startled to do much.

The man carrying the pipe sneers a little. "Out for a walk so late?"

Kanti is used to having to protect people, or at least put herself in a place where she needs to prepare to get hurt. It hasn't happened for a long time, because high school children are stupid, but not stupid enough to bash themselves into a wall until they're brain-damaged. She's not used to having to do it with adults though, but that doesn't keep her from continuing to pull the Dian's back.

"I think," she says to the pipe-carrying man from a little behind them, "that you should put that down before you get hurt."

"Interesting thought. But maybe you should be a little more worried about yourself."

The gangsters behind him chuckle and the woman with the knife speaks up.

"Just hand over your wallets nicely and don't do anything stupid."

Yeah, the Dians are gonna let Kanti take the lead on this one. It seems to them she knows how to handle the situation much better than they could.

Kanti looks back and forth between the Dian's for some form of authority to follow, and sighs when she finds none. She is used to listening to adults, but she doesn't need to, and it's clear that she won't have to.

She's worried about what will happen if she pulls out her lipstick, shifts it and goes to town. She's practiced plenty, knows that she could cleave through a person easily if she puts enough force behind it with how her chainsaw is designed. It's the killing she has a problem with, the idea of going full monster when she's already got abnormal blood and a hunger for others. But even if she isn't going to kill them, she has a chainsaw and she knows how to use it.

"You have made a terrible mistake." She pulls out a tube of lipstick from her pocket and it's heavier than usual, like her intent to maim has weighed it down a bit more. There's an invisible catch trick she knows now, and then there's a very large chainsaw and she's the one holding it. All it needs is a good pull of the chord to rumble to life, and her hand is already on it.

It comes so naturally, she wonders why she was worried at all.

Almost everyone in attendance jumps back in surprise at the appearance of the chainsaw, their jaws practically dropping as it rumbles to life. The gangsters stare in horror, seemingly feeling much less powerful than before.

The Dians themselves aren't exactly sure how to treat the situation. They grab each other quickly. Miria, not exactly expecting this, stays in a state of shock for a moment. Isaac on the other hand, was at least aware of the existence of chainsaw lipstick. He... just didn't imagine that it had ever left the sink Kanti once said she left it in a month or so ago.

...In retrospect, it wouldn't make sense to just leave a chainsaw in a sink. Somehow, this realization hadn't quite arrived in Isaac's head until right about now.

Eventually, in the silence, the woman with the knife speaks up.

"Hey... There's no way you'd do something as stupid as what I thinking your thinking..."

The couple finds themselves kind of agreeing with the voice, although they don't make any moves yet. Kanti wouldn't really... hurt anyone, right?

"I-" Kanti cuts herself off and clenches her jaw, holding a hand to her head. She's been here before, full of rage and the desire to pay what was owed. She remembers his face and her rage and how easy, how preposterously easy it had been to rend him in two. How good the blood had tasted. It had felt good to kill him. Right. She's thinking too much, but she doesn't have time to respond because these armed thugs are reminding her of something else.

She squeezes her eyes shut in preparation for the oncoming headache when she feels that now familiar throb of a memory squeezing into her skull. But the hurt never comes. Instead, the second echo drops like a pebble into a pond, sending small ripples and rearranging things before letting them settle. She finds herself looking at the Blood Keys with clearer intentions.

Is killing them bad? They're trying to hurt her. They're trying to hurt her friends. They're trying to impose their will on her through force. It's fine for her to fight back, to hurt them, to kill them and show no mercy. It's natural, and it's just how things are done and how they always have been. It's no more than they deserve, after all, for their attempt on her life. Except she knows that it is most certainly not how things are done here. They're done like that somewhere else. Somewhere she doesn't know yet. It doesn't keep her from gripping her chainsaw tighter, like it's an anchor in this storm. She presses down on the clutch, letting the blades spin wildly.

"Don't act like you know me. You have no idea what I'll do to you."

Skyler had nothing to do after school today, what with finals week, and his first assignment from the Keys was to thoroughly explore what was their territory. It was hard to believe that he was now one of the people who made this district mildly shady after years of taking the fact for granted. The shops looked peaceful enough today as he stuck his hands in his pockets and slouched through the streets, thinking about what he'd have to start doing to keep his two (three?) lives separate - start being careful about who he was seen with, and start talking to people less, and start acting differently around his new crowds, and that definitely was the sound of someone revving up a chainsaw in the middle of a shopping district. Ok, that's conspicuous.

He moves towards the sound, making his way towards the ice cream shops, curious to see what the commotion was about until he actually gets there and nearly nopes right out of there when he sees that it's the Keys roughing up a group of people. Yes, he's technically a part of them now, but he's got more than one reason to keep his real identity a secret from anyone except his own squad. Might as well just walk on by, right? He almost does before the sight of the panicking couple from behind makes him swear and find a hiding place - Network people. Oh, hell.

... What does he do? He doesn't exactly want to get caught helping a bunch of Keys - way to blow his own cover on the first day, yeah, no - but he doesn't want to just stand by while the girl with the very real looking chainsaw kills a bunch of people he's supposedly allied with. God damn it, come on, other him, what good is having memories of all kinds of powers if he can't actually use any of them? At this rate, the only plan he can think of is somehow incapacitating them all before she'd actually need to use that thing for real, but if it was a matter of many versus just the four of them, he'd need her help, and there wasn't enough time for him to talk it out.

So he does the next best thing. He turns on his fists, crosses of hard, white light orbiting his hands. These people aren't on his squad, and hopefully won't remember his face after this. And to make sure they won't remember his face afterward, he goes for a charge at a third person in the Key's group, hitting him with his shoulder and forcing him away from the rest of the party and into a nearby wall. As they hit the wall, he rams both fists into the brick behind the guy and it explodes, making the impact seem a lot more dramatic than it actually was. Before the sound of the explosion leaves his ears, he grabs the guy by the collar and pulls him right up to his face, saying in an urgent whisper that he hopes no one else can hear: "When I put you down, stay down. I won't kill you. She will."

So, hey. Cavalry. Here.

WELL THIS IS TERRIBLE! EVERYONE IS ANGRY AND GLARING AT EACH OTHER AND THIS FEELS LIKE THIS COULD BE GOING MUCH BETTER.

They can't just... stand on the sidelines. If they wanna make sure that Kanti stays safe, they need to act. Eventually, they both step forward.

"N-Now guys..."

"We could just... give you our money and no one gets hurt!"

"That's a great idea! All in favor of this idea?"

AND THEN THERE WAS A NEW FIGHTER AND EXPLODING AND OH MY GOD WHY IS EVERYTHING AWFUL.

At least the man in question seems to take Skyler's advice, although he seems a little... disgruntled by it. He gives a quick nod, small enough that no one can see it but his "attacker".

The knife lady and the guy that appears to be somewhat of an authority don't appear to take what they do see well.

"You piece of SHIT!"

They both charge. The knife lady makes her way toward Skyler and the other man with the pipe heads toward Kanti.

SINCE THEIR ORIGINAL PLAN KINDA WENT UNDER the Dians, almost without thinking, stand between Kanti and the attacker. Because protecting someone with a chainsaw from someone with a pipe, while possessing no weapons, seems like a solid plan.

Everything happens so fast that it's difficult to get a bead on. Sudden skill with her weapon and a chance to come to terms with killing and death haven't given Kanti the opportunity to learn the skill that comes with naturally fighting. She raises her chainsaw and pulls down on the clutch, but stops before she slices horizontally.

The Dians are in front of her. They weren't before and they're not supposed to be there, but they are.

Kanti shifts her chainsaw back into a lipstick tube with that invisible-catch trick immidiately. This is a weapon to hurt people, but her friends aren't ordinary people. Nonetheless, the weight of it carries her around and she has to struggle for balance a bit after the twirl.

"What are you- No! Don't!"

Her balance is still off, but Kanti throws herself onto the Dian's grabbing their wrists and trying to pull them away. No one is allowed to get hurt because of her.

Skyler nods before pushing the guy towards the wall, letting him drop before turning holy SHIT that is definitely the chick with the knife coming his way. He puts up an arm, trying to catch the arc of her blade on something that wasn't his face or his chest, and gets the blade glancing off his forearms for his trouble. His sleeve rip open and he has to really focus on ignoring the pain of a new slash opening on his wrist. Hey, he's cybernetic, not a robot.

He barely knows what's going on with the three Network people, but as long as they're only dealing with one thug, he's pretty sure that he can get there before there are any serious casualties. In the meantime, he takes his other arm and hits his opponent hard in the stomach, using his newfound strength as conservatively as he can. He knows he's a match for her, but he doesn't want anyone else here to figure that out.

The couple gasp loudly in surprise as they feel a sudden tug away from their position. They each utter a quiet whimper before they realize that Kanti just saved them from a broken bone or two.

Speaking of which, ATTACKING BLOOD KEY ATTACKING BLOOD KEY. He keeps advancing on the trio, swinging the pipe left and right. He's angry, but he hasn't put his whole force into the attack yet. He wants to save that energy for when he needs it.

The Dians decide to once again take Kanti's lead as best they can while sill trying to protect her. This clearly translates to GRAB KANTI BACK AND GET A MINOR DISTANCE AWAY FROM THIS GUY.

Meanwhile, the knife lady is practically seething at the mouth. She's using more energy than her partner, but lunging with a knife takes much less force than swinging a pipe. She takes a moment to jump back from her first attack and lunge once more at Skyler.

The chainsaw was a stupid idea in retrospect, but it isn't really all she has with her, just what she has that she was confident enough to intimidate with. It's not really working anymore, since she's folded it up again, and she can't take it out with the Dians in front of her. She jams her hand into her bag, hopping out of the range of pipe swinging, rumaging around until her hand finds a familiar rectangular shape.

It's an effort for her to squeeze between them, but Kanti manages it with a depend amount of shoving. It's rude, and she'll apologize for it later, but right now she's a little busy.

She didn't really see the point of her taser once she had her chainsaw, but old habits die hard and it isn't like it make her purse any heavier than her chainsaw made her pockets. Whether she sees the point or not anymore doesn't matter, because it's what she has in her hand, and it's what she's jabbing towards the Pipe Guy when she sees him pause for a backswing.

Skyler is prepared, sort of. He's never been one to overthink a fight, but the woman had taken him by surprise and it was taking a moment for his brain to keep up with the rest of his body - yes, lady, knife, gash on his arm that is bubbling up with blood, ok, he can still do this. When she moves in to swing again, he raises both arms in the same move as before. This time, one of his hands has another Spark charged up around it. He's aiming to either knock the knife out of her hand or get close enough to grab onto her arm with his charged hand. He knows that contact with the light causes things to break, but truthfully, he's never used it on another person. No time to really think about that, though!

The Dians are suitably startled as Kanti pushes through them. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT IS DANGEROUS THIS WAS A GOOD PLAN. They both reach out to grab their pal and continue running away, but she's already made her move. The taser connects with Pipe Guy's torso and he jolts backward in pain. He immediately collapses onto the ground, the pipe flying out of his hand down the block. He chooses to use this moment to swear and curse in pain.

"God fucking... you stupid bitch, jesus christ!"

The couple choose to take the opportunity to do something logical. Miria races down the block real quick to GRAB THAT PIPE SO NO ONE CAN THREATEN THEM WITH IT. Isaac chooses to take this chance to, once again, pull Kanti AWAY FROM THE GANGSTER. Sure, he's injured but why take a chance?

Their attention starts to turn back to the Mysterious New Guy, and his fight with Knife Lady. She is momentarily distracted by her partner's collapse, leaving Skyler the chance to knock the knife away and grab her if he is quick enough.

Gangsters and chainsaws and antiquers, oh my!

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TY for waiting! You are amazing!!

No prob! Just glad you're back!

c:

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1/2

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TL;DR TIER 2 ECHO

dynamic entry right in here hello!! if it's too godmode let me know

Cycling through Dians, Kanti, and Skyler then?

Yup!

Roger that!

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LONG DELAY WHOOPS