Private Western Brisshal [Reaping Season] "Quick Adventure, Just in and Out, I Promise!"

[Cynna]

"Oh hell no."

Cynna dove for Ronja and tried to roll out of the way of the live lightning. A moment later, her gun was leveled at the head of the shouting battery boy. Only...

Shit. I need him alive.

There was a burst of black smoke. Cynna had pulled the pin on one of her smoke grenades for cover.

"Don't do anything silly Ronja. Just stay out of the open."

Cynna said under her breath as she darted out from the smoke screen using her shadow arts to close in on the boy from his flank. In her left hand was energy pistol, but now, in her right was a fist-sized rock she had just picked up. This was the weapon she was focused on and why she had moved into close quarters.

Cynna pounced like the half-cat she was with the stone raised to wallop the boy.

"Don't pretend you didn't have this coming!"

It was a brutal sneak attack: uncalculated, nasty, sudden, and full of prejudice. Cynna hoped she'd end things in one stroke by capturing a mostly functional mysterious magia. Maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Being pushed to roll on the ground, Ronja squeaked as the lightning nearly struck her, crackling and raising her hair as they got themselves on the ground, following the smoke explosion that cloaked their sight and hid them from the enemy.

"A-Ah! Thanks!" Ronja staggered, trying to recover her feet just before Cynna darted off. "Ronja won't, but she won't promise she won't do anything silly!" She exclaimed, slamming her fists together and releasing a huge amount of arcanamantic energy, materializing her beloved rifle, Skullbuster.

Aiming at the target, a small wire escaped from her neck, plugging on the weapon before she charged it up.

"Non-lethal mode-" She muttered, with the barrel of the gun shifting before she pressed the trigger, sending a solid sphere of mana toward the

The boy's eyes flickered, and as he prepared another sequence of attacks, the abrupt attack from Cynna made him nearly crumble to the ground- However, his chest opened, releasing a claw that stretched out and held the Beastfolk by the neck before pulling to force himself back to his feet and pull her closer.

"You-" His eyes' cyan brim turned into a scarlet tone, with a red electricity starting to sparkle ready to explode an electrocution. But before it could occur, a sphere of mana struck his face like a straight punch, sending his face to the side and stunning him momentarily.

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

This is why mercy's a bad idea. Should've blown the f---- up from the beginning.

Cynna choked as she snarled.

Ronja's shot gave her the momentary opening she needed. Taking the rock, Cynna threw it into magia boy's open chest cavity figuring that it would probably piss him off if it didn't at least slow him down.

With that little bit of last moments pettiness well and handled, Cynna then decided to bet it all on her prized legs. Drawing one back she kicked out as hard as she could at the boy's recoiling chin which he had cocked to see where he had been shot from.

From there, Cynna continued to try whatever came to mind in an adrenaline fueled blur of shadow arts, which, in this case, was largely her mastery of cheap shots and dirty blows. Whatever it took to win and survive. Cocking her elbow at a right angle, she held her energy pistol against the claw's wire endlessly in an endless crescendo of shadowy energy bullets until her pistol overheated and was left smoking.

If she were going down, she wasn't going down easy, after having given up her rock, her momentarily free hand revealed one of her bombs...

Cynna grinned all fangs as she readied herself to gamble it all on who would walk away with more parts attached.

I figure Ronja's probably smart enough to fix herself from here. Yeah, and hey, maybe I can use him for some neat prosthetics after. Always think positive. Hell, it'll be the perfect tavern revenge story.

"Call me Ishmael, you son of a----"

Cynna's finger moved to the switch as she waited to see if the boy was still putting up a fight.


@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja quickly rushed toward Cynna and the mysterious boy, holding on her rifle tightly as a few, tiny propelling automatons were summoned from Ronja's bag. Her eyes zoomed in to the sequence of fight Cynna was putting off. Now that was a bit scary, was she John Wick or something?

"Incoming!" She yelled as the boy seemed to stagger, jumping blasting her jet boots off toward the boy, tossing her weapon aside and body slamming against him while Cynna had him at gunpoint, a perfect distraction for the guy.

As soon as they rolled down on the ground, Ronja held his wrists and activated her magnetism, locking herself on him with an unflinching force.

"Ghhn, y-your personal space is forfeit by Ronja. Surrender now!"

The rock being thrust into his chest made the magia boy stagger, taking a few steps back and lag his functions for a moment. Before he could recover, the bullets struck his body one after another, trampling his carapace and ripping his cloak while exposing more of his destroyed body, including damages that seemed to be older.

"A-Ah..." He overheated, releasing a steam from his ears and mouth, having a bit of smoke mixed in it. His eyes flickered, glaring at Cynna with rage while a strange liquid leaked fron his body, and his opened chest crackled with mana electricty. But before he could react, he was soon rolling on the ground and with his body glued to the other magia.

"Hey- HEY! GET OFF ME!" He struggled, trying to get rid of the girl, but to no avail, especially having a gun aimed at him.

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"Damn! You go girl!"

Cynna couldn't help but shout at Ronja kicked magia butt. Cynna didn't think the little magia had had it in her, but she was glad to be proven wrong. And maybe a little scared too. Because Cynna still owed Ronja a great deal of money and this whole little road trip had been a mess.

"Alright, shut up and listen mega man. You're lucky my partner's so capable because I was just about to blow the both of us up. I'm lucky too, I guess, but I'm petty enough to not care about taking you with me."

*Cynna waves the bomb and puts it away*

"Seriously, you're a pain in the ass, but I digress. You gave my magia friend here a virus and now you're going to fix it. Then, you're going to explain what the hell is going on. Actually, hey Ronja,----this might be kind of funny----think you can give him the virus with your pluggy cord? Then if he can't fix it at least he's up a creek too."

Cynna grinned wickedly. The cat woman had been put through the ringer, and now standing at the top again, she was really basking in the sweet sweet glow of victory. Victory courtesy of Ronja, sure, but hey that's what partners are for.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja tried to give a thumb up to Cynna, but the magnetism was way too strong for her to even move her fingers. Instead, she contented herself to wink at the beastfolk, while her cheek was squished against the other magia's chest.

The sudden reveal from Cynna, however, made Ronja's eyes grow wide open. "Y-You what?! Cyn, that's dangerous!" Ronja protested, trying to move slightly, making the boy grumble with the movements. "Never try to do it again, Ronja won't stand for this!" She puffed the non-squished cheek.

At the suggestion, Ronja's eyes clicked, and she half-nodded. "Ronja can do that, actually!" She said, smirking at the boy while a small wire escaped from the side of her neck, threatening to reach for the neck of the other magia boy, slithering and trailing toward it in a slow and intimidating manner.

The boy shot a glare at Cynna, gritting his teeth. "You are a mad woman. You wanted to kill us all?!" He protested, looking at the teenagers and then back at the beastfolk. "Fixing her? I won't-"

Yet, his eyes flickered at the suggestion of a threat, suddenly panicking and squirming when the wire approached with the virus.

"Wait, no! Please no! Not my memories!" He struggled, trying to lift his shoulders to cover his neck like a turtle trying to retract its head to its shell. "This virus is harmless, it just disrupts the memory features of a magia!" The boy said, frowning his lips. "I... I didn't want to do this, but they will try to get rid of me... If they find out about me again."

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"Yeah, yeah, Ronja, keep kicking ass like you have been and I won't have to, hell I might even just have to hang up my hat and retire."

Cynna grinned as she crouched down and poked her magia partner's cheek with her finger. Then, she sighed.

"Oh, now you're feeling chatty eh, mystery kid? Fine. Let's try this one more got'damm time. Who the hell is- 'they'?"

Cynna gestured with her chin behind the magia boy.

"Do you mean these kids? The ones that I totally didn't forget we were supposed to be rescuing? They been bullying you or something? I doubt it when you can crap lasers."

Cynna looked over at them.

"Hey kids, you okay? Why are you just standing there? You are just standing there, right? It's hard to see with all this damn ghost tree light. Ya zombies? Am I gonna have to avenge you? The hell are you doing sneaking away at night?"

Cynna looked back at the magia boy.

"Am I gonna have to avenge them? Because listen carefully ya two-handle no-head hammer for a brain, what you're doing not only messed up my magia buddy Ronja here, you've also been wind wiping all the shit in a about a 5 miles radius. Me included.

You were just like 'no nyooo my myemoriesss~' so how the hell do you think we feel? FIX THIS. Then I can maybe listen to a sob-story on overtime. Ronja there's a real bleeding heart, I'm sure she'll put up with your shit if you're actually a good kid like you claim. So talk. Last chance. Let's hear the backstory, if things don't start turning sepia real quick..."

Cynna wordlessly glanced over at Ronja, her expression saying:

"This is fine right?"

Cynna figured Ronja would want to help him. Frankly, Cynna was a far worse person than the mind-wiping menace, and Ronja still called her a friend, so Cynna figured maybe the kid deserved a chance.

It's my one good deed of the day.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"Ronja is really just as stuck as he is though-" Ronja said, looking at Cynna at the mention of kicking ass, letting out a brief giggle when her cheek was poked. However, soon she tried to keep a serious face. No Ronja, this was serious, keep straight and angry face.

The call for the kids was in vain, none of them responded or flinched, making Ronja stare in concern.

"That's not good. Maybe they did become zombies-" She said, looking at the Magia she was glued to. "Ronja won't stand for what you are doing! Her memories are as precious as yours! You can't just zombify kids either!" Ronja protested, really wishing she could bonk him right now.

Her eyes then shifted to look at Cynna's, with her questioning expression making Ronja halt for a moment and then nod slightly.

The boy scowled at the mockery, squirming once again and only stopping when the wire touched his neck, reminding him of his situation.

"I can fix it. But only if you promise to not tell anyone from the town about me." The Magia boy said, letting out a sigh. "I would never hurt them. They are... my friends. Or were. I don't know anymore." He said, stopping his useless struggle to escape the magnetism.

"It all started in Vintergard. My family moved there for a better life, but everything turned into hell there after that giant thing destroyed the whole capital." He said. "I nearly died, but a magia girl... she saved me. She turned me into this." His eyes flickered. "It is a bless and a curse. I had a second chance, but I turned into this and... the people in the town think I am an impostor, that the real me is dead. And they are the only people I know now." The Magia boy said.

"Even my savior, she said she can't protect me from the ones of her kind. So I can't stay there either."

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"Well Ronja, whaddya wanna do?"

Cynna shrugged, looking down at her partner. There was a laugh tickling the back of her throat when she noticed Ronja was still stuck to the kid, but Cynna stifled it.

"We were paid to stop the light, so the way I see it, if it doesn't show up anymore, and we say we took care of it, that's mission accomplished. Of course, that's only if the kid keeps his word. We can also just dispose of him and figure out how to fix you ourselves. I'm a quick study, I'm pretty sure I could figure something out given a bit of time..."

Cynna was more annoyed than angry at this point as she ruffled her hair.

"Either way, he can't keep doing what he's been doing. Should we just drop him at MIT? They can be annoying as hell, but theyll treat him right, I figure. Gotta return the bike anyway, what's one more person on the back of it."

Thinking aloud, Cynna wasn't really sure. Somewhere, deep down, Cynna thought that this "finding" of a kid could probably bump her asking rate up a few pegs, but she still wasn't quite certain if he'd be a liability.

"Or maybe some third option, Your call Ronja. Ask him what it'll take for him to move on outta here clean and easy. I'm gonna go ID the kids."

With a little salute, Cynna moved to check out the teenagers and see if they needed any medical assistance. She was never far away, or out of line of sight, of the magia boy.

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja squirmed a bit to move, but she tried to keep facing Cynna, at the cost of some quiet complaints from the boy. "Ronja doesn't want to just get rid of him. She doesn't like what he is doing, but she doesn't want to kill him off, or give him to some weirdos who will try to dissect him." Ronja protested for a moment, even though she knew why Cynna was acting that way.

The boy was certainly not giving them the best reasons to keep him safe, after all.

"Ronja... Wants to help." Ronja said, with her wire still nearing the boy's neck. "But Ronja doesn't think what you are doing right now is the right way to get what you want. In fact, if they find all of this out, they will be certain you are an impostor, even if you aren't." Ronja tried to shake her head... But really, she couldn't.

"Ronja thinks we can try to help, but only when her virus is gone-" She frowned.

The boy, looking at the two girls in his impotent state, could only sigh and eventually agree, not having anything else he could do to make things better.

"Alright. Don't move." He said, and his own wire escaped from his neck, reaching for Ronja's neck and plugging on it, transferring the data necessary for Ronja's body to destroy the virus that was corrupting her memories. "... In a day it should be entirely solved." The boy said.

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"Alright, I'd say we shake on it, but you look like you'd static up my tail."

Cynna scoffed as she waved her hand in front one of the missing teen's eyes. No response. Cynna sighed again, as if she hadn't been the one to decide on taking this job in the first place.

"Okay, lesson time you dumbasses."

Cynna raised her hand, and soon enough, she had walked down the line flicking each kid in the forehead.

"Don't. Walk. Off. With. Weird. Ass. Strangers! (No offense robokid.)"

The teens blinked and gradually came to. Just as their mouths went agape and they were about to ask something Cynna didn't feel like answering... she cut them off.

"Nope, nope, nope. You guys don't get to talk. You awake? Good. Let this be a lesson not to wander off into friggen forests at night, especially not without leaving a note. Good? Good. Now listen carefully, I was about to take you all out because I thought you stupid idiots were a pack of bandits----I'm a bandit hunter----I kill bandits, so you're lucky that magia kid jumped out to save you. Really lucky, as you can see, I messed him up pretty damn bad. So maybe you should give him a round of thanks yeah? Ya dumb thrill seekers."

It was, of course, a lie. But, it was also part of the deal, so Cynna thought she'd give the kid a chance to play a hero instead of a... whatever the heck he was up to.

Beginning to look a lot like mission accomplished. Cynna thought, before her trail and ears drooped when she remembered she'd forfeited all the pay to climb out of the hole she'd dug and tossed herself into. On top of that, Ronja had gotten hurt, she was beginning to think this wasn't going to cover things----at all. There's gotta be another easy job out there right...? Right...?

Cynna internally groaned as she watched the kids mull on over to the magia boy. Maybe they recognized him, maybe they never would.

"Hey kid."

Cynna called over the din.

"You're hurt pretty bad, and I know a place where they can help you. You'll have to earn your keep, but you seem more than capable, and I can guarantee you that nobody will mess with you. You're not quite like Ronja there, but don't you want to meet more people similar to you? You can share your plights and bond and crap."

Cynna holstered her weapon. She wasn't making a great case, so she shot Ronja a look.

"It's the best way to tie a bow on this, let's get him to Astorea and out of the spooky sci-fi woods."

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja was just about to open her mouth wide to retort and correct Cynna, especially when she mentioned she was ready to kill the teens thinking they were bandits- But before she could ruin everything, she caught it up, closing her mouth and smiling faintly.

As the group of teens flinched at the scold, eventually looking at the familiar looking boy that they avoided for a long while. It took a moment for the first one to step closer, but as they did, the others followed along.

Ronja slowly disttached from him, releasing the magnetism and rolling out of the way to stand up, letting out a sigh and holding her chest when she finally could breath properly. "Ronja is never using herself as super glue again. Her ribs are aching!" She said, but her giggles showed her joy for the outcome as she approached Cynna. "Love to play the anti-hero, huh?" Ronja whispered, nudging her friend's side while her eyes clicked twice to register her face.

The boy looked surprised at the sudden white lie the other pulled, stopping to squirm as much as he was doing before and becoming somewhat sheepish when the other kids approached. The magia boy paused, sitting on the grass while some kids crouched around him. Some were still skeptical, but even those had a grateful look in their eyes.

For the first time in the four years, the boy could have an almost normal conversation with someone he knew since childhood.

After the brief reunion, an exchange of apologies and thanks, the boy stood up with the help of some of the teens, and they all moved closer to the duo. "Uhm... I... Honestly would like to keep talking to them. But I doubt the other townsfolk will like my presence." He sighed. "... So maybe going to MIT isn't a bad idea. Unless they will get me locked." He looked behind at his friends. "I don't want to miss them anymore."

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

Anti-hero?

Cynna contemplated what Ronja had just called her.

"I'm a regular hero dammit, aint no anti about me!"

She pouted back before crossing her arms and 'hmphing' as she faced away. Hearing the boy talk, Cynna got her head back in the game.

"Nah, nobody'll bother you there, everyone in Astorea's a kook in some way and MIT sees that as some kind of challenge to outdo. Just look at the little ankle weight there."

Cynna motioned with her chin at Ronja

"Most of them are like her, more or less, and the rest won't even notice you're there as they mutter about with their nose in a book, you'll be fine. Just write your friends here and tell them to visit when they're a little older, no goodbye's forever if you keep your head on your shoulders and the other person's on theirs."

Cynna walked over and leaned in.

"And if the townspeople really are trying string up magia, make a little money and I'll take em out for ya."

Cynna winked, it honestly wasn't very clear if she was kidding. Oh Cynna.

"Well, Ronja? You can guide your little toaster buddy back to our bike if you're ready to go. Been a hell of a night and though it's my fault most of this happened, I'm still feeling very tired and ready to be done with it. We're gonna negotiate for more reward money though, you hear? I may not be seeing any of it, but maybe the rest can go towards something nice because I'm so darn pretty."

Cynna grinned.

And so ended a mess that got messier but couldve been worse.

The End~

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Vesuvyan]

Summary; A traditional start to any adventure - a lack of money, and a curiosity on one end of the world. Memories can be fleeting - even moreso when dabbling with the spirits and the unknown. A supposed solution was found - destroying the source. A boy left alone in the world years ago, wanting something for himself. A tale of desperation. One that Lubeck knew all too well, and a problem that would get worse as the cold rose.

Little did they know, eyes had seen this trek in and out of the woods. Eyes of hunger, of fear. - Eyes desperate for success, and willing to risk everything for it. Nothing is more ferocious than animals backed into a corner.

Replies: 33 - Really fun read, little detective movie, chanlye's blue-screen meme, the magia kid. Loved it all.

Score: 35. The score can be enhanced if one of you go to the #rolls channel and give me a 1d10, and then tag me after.

You both earn 1 Vesuvyan Gold as a result of this thread.

Happy Reaping Season.