*To recap: Rei and Hugh have just been stolen away by the Shito. Leaving Falora and Alex to look after the still-unconscious Elaine and the now-sleeping Kyuusaisha, whose use of power has left him tired even with his parents' mental support, Aoi, Tenkei and Kaworu dash downstairs.*
Asuka: Um, guys? Why the hurry?
*The trio skids to a halt.*
Kaworu: Hugh and Rei have been abducted.
Asuka: Nani?!! _How?!_
Aoi: Leliel did it, but Arael was the one who started it off.
Asuka: *Eyes widen* Arael....which number is Arael?
Aoi: Er, fifteen, the way you number it, but that's not--
Asuka: *Cuts Aoi off* I'm going with you.
Kaworu: Nani?! Why?
Asuka: Because I want to help bring that son of a bitch down.
Kaworu: *Raises his eyebrows* You mean he....?
Asuka: *Nods as the memories flash through her mind--her Eva writhing in response to her own psychic agony as Arael's powers ripped through her mind, overwhelming her with the pain and grief she'd spent most of her life suppressing, her most private mental sanctum violated....* I owe him for what he did to me.
Aoi: Fine. You can come. But it'll be rough; Evas won't be any good where we're going.
Asuka: *Snarls* I'll take that risk.
*The other Shito Sentai nod in affirmation, and the group of four exit the bar at high speed, beelining for the City of God....*
*But don't worry, I ain't wrapping this up that fast. ^_- To be continued....*
End communication.
Hit Where It Hurts
or
"Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up ..."
(*My, that was a low shot. Hehehe ... oh, wait. Damn! I've been infected by the Punochondria, the Punnychlorians!! Aaaaah!! Symbiosis turned commensalism turned parasitism!! Aaaaah!!*)
(*In the Shinra building ...*)
Elena: Scarlett said it'd be here, it's gotta be around here somewheres .... forget my own head next ... aha! There! (*yank*) Got the Black Materia!
Reno: Really, a file cabinet in the Space Program section of Floor 27 ... who'd-a thunk it'd be there.
Tseng: Is that a serious comment?
Reno: Y'know, I really can't tell anymore ...
Rude: You said that before.
Reno: I did? Huh. Well, then, I ought to say this ... what is wrong with this RL? I can't hardly tell the difference between a person's dialogue and the next ...
(*CRASH*)
Tseng: Oh, thanks, now look what you've done ... poor fourth wall ...
Reno: Whoops ...
(*Yeah, don't complain else things happen and stuff. And who are you to complain, anyhow, I seem to recall you have a font color ...*)
Reno: Ah ... sorry?
(*Mind you, if I got my insert killed by a rat, which I might very well have done, I done things of that sort before --*)
Reno: Have you ever tried bees?
(*What?*)
Reno: Never mind. Obscure ref.
(*Urrrrrgh ... well, this is getting long, so off to vacuum fourth rubble am I ... vmmmmm ...*)
Reno (*blink blink*) Anyyyywaaaaays ... verily, we go forth on a diplomatic mission, nay?
Rude: Verily, forsooth.
Elena: Rude! Not you too!
Rude: (*shrugs*)
(*Intermission -- Panic at the Bar*)
Roísin: (*running around on the verge of mania*) Nagisa-san!! Bodyguard!! Where are you?!
Jenova: Look, hey, settle dow--
Roísin: (*echoing from upstairs*) Nagiiiiiiiisa-saaaaaaan ...
Jenova: My word, I've never seen a woman so frightened in my life.
Aerith: It's not without reason.
Jenova: Um ...
Aerith: Don't start reading into that, I'm fine. A few bruises, scrapes, a cut -- nothing a good Cure spell couldn't fix. Don't worry about me. Worry about the White Materia.
Roísin: (*echo*) Nagisa Kawoooooruuuuuu-saaaamaaaaa....!?!
Jenova: I'd be more inclined to worry about her, considering that the White Materia isn't running up and down the stairs screaming its head off ...
Plimsky: Pip pip piep! Roísin zuerst, die Weiße Materia später.
Rufus: I'm with the robot, whatever he said.
Aerith: I'll get her then.
Jenova: Good. I see a little silhouetto of a man scaramouche scaramouche will you do the fandango ...
Aerith: (*blink blink*)
Jenova: (*sheepishly*) Sorry, sometimes you've just gotta give.
Aerith: I see ...
(*Aerith slowly walks up the stairs, to the little space before the door to the Ayanami - Davis residence. Roísin has quieted down considerably ...*)
Roísin: Shimatta ... (*hits her head against the wall with a soft thump*)
Aerith: Roísin-san ...
Roísin: I'm an idiot.
Aerith: .......
Roísin: I trusted him, dammit, I thought he'd protect me! I trusted him enough that I let my guard down ...
Aerith: Roísin-san, I'm sure Kaworu didn't mean --
Roísin: I'm not talking about Nagisa.
Aerith: .......
Roísin: I used to be a good little match girl in the city ... always did what I was told, never broke with tradition. See how tradition thanked me in return ...
Aerith: Roísin ...
Roísin: Nowhere in any of those old wive's tales did they leave any room for the possibility that someone who can save a girl's life could also ..... ruin .. it .... there's only fairy tales of heroes rescuing damsels and falling in love, getting hitched, happily ever after ... ne, I was worse than naïve, I actually thought this was my knight in shining armor.
Aerith: .......
Roísin: (*wincing*) Didn't he have a grand time smashing that to pieces ...
Aerith: (*softly*) He ... did?
Roísin: (*nod*) The story of my life. Having my hopes bludgeoned to death, one at a time ... heh, if he ever found out that I actually like to sing, there'd be Hell to pay. (*She frowns.*) And I being that I have no bodyguard, I'm a sitting duck. He could come at anytime and I wouldn't be able to do a thing ... you know that as well as I do ...
Aerith: Maybe Kaworu will return soon ...
Roísin: (*turns*) Well, if he doesn't, that leaves me only one other option ...
Aerith: What's that?
Roísin: (*walking downstairs*) Getting schnockered to the point of numbness.
(*Silently, Aerith follows her down to the bar and goes behind the counter, while Roísin takes a seat.*)
Jenova: Ah, Roísin-san, you're back.
Rufus: Are you alr--
Roísin: No.
Rufus: (*blink blink*)
Jenova: Not mincing words today, is she..?
Aerith: Here, try this ... (*sets a thimble in front of Roísin*)
Roísin: (*eyes the thimble*) What's in it?
Aerith: Apples. Well, mostly apples.
(*Back to the Batmobi-- err, Shinra building*)
Reno: (*singing*) AAaaaaeeeeeee wizzaaardsah staaafff has a knobontheend, knobontheend --
Tseng: Reno, what in God's name are you doing?!
Reno: (*blink blink*) Y'know, to be quite honest ---
Tseng, Rude, Elena: (*monotone*) I don't really know.
Reno: Wow, you're catching on fast.
Rude: 'Tis part of the job, veril--
(*CLANG*)
Rude: Ow.
Elena: Hehe ... (*twirls fryingpan triumphantly*)
Reno: And you said I'm weird.
Tseng: Um ... they were ... normal back then. Yeah, that's it ... normal back then ...
Ravenal: I hate to interrupt a precious moment like this (not), but I do believe this is the part where I kill you and wrench the Black Materia from your corpse.
Reno: Aye, Matey, and you would be..?
Ravenal: Ravenal, Dark Knight, 2nd Avatar of Azrael, the Angel of Death.
Reno: Cheerful, aren't you?
Ravenal: Relatively. Considering the amount of mockery you're dishing out right now, when I get around to killing you I'll be ecstatic.
Reno: Um ...
Rude: Translation: "I only met you 30 seconds ago, and I already hate your guts".
Reno: Oh! Well, put that way, it sounds like a blind date ...
Ravenal: (*holding up the vicious "scythe"*) Let's get down to business, yes? (*smirks*)
Reno: Indeed so, Laughin' Hall.
Ravenal: Ravenal. R-A-V-E-N-A-L.
Reno: Mind if I call you Raven?
Ravenal: NO! I mean, YES, I mind, it's not even pronounced that way!
Reno: Whatever you say, Raven.
(*And bam, before you can say "If cats were frogs, they'd all be green," Ravenal yanks Reno several feet up by the collar. Using an AT field, of course ...*)
Reno: Urk ... see, not wearing a tie is a good thing! No ready-made noose!
Ravenal: Are you suicidally hyper or what?
Reno: 'Tis been a weird day, m'Laffemal AT field lady ...
Ravenal: Ravenal! R! A! V! E! N! A! L!
Reno: A'right, I dig, and hey! Elena, Rude, Tseng! Say something, dammit, you're not mannequins!
Rude: Actually, that might'nt be such a bad career to shift into, if we ever get out of this ...
Elena: Yeah, you could model wigs and hats, and I could model casual wear and big comfy chairs, and Tseng could do the spee--
Tseng: That's one topic carried a bit too far, Elena. ^^;;
Reno: AHEM. Strung-up fellow has idea of genius proportions.
Ravenal: I'm still here, y'know.
Reno: Quite aware of that, Kizk-- err, Rabemol ... aaaaaaaaah!! Leave that alone, I like my spleen where it is, thank you very much!
Ravenal: That's because you --
Reno: Quick, Elena, run to the airvent and kick it in!
(*She nods and smashes the nearest airvent in the ground.*)
Ravenal: That's a rather pathetic escape route, not even one of you can fit down that thing ...
Reno: Oh, no, that's not the point ... Elena, stick your hand in it and prepare to let go!
(*And lo, it was so, and lo again, it was suddenly plain now that Elena was holding the Black Materia over the airvent ...*)
Ravenal: (*chuckling*) Oh, you think that's going to stop me?
Reno: No, but if she drops it, it'll be a major pain in the ass to retrieve ...
Ravenal: (*shrug*)
Reno: Lesse, which clichéd "last question" should I ask now to stall ...
Rude: "What's your motive" is usually a good one.
Reno: Point taken, that'll do. What's your motive? Why are you doing this?
(*Ravenal's eyes light up a more firey red, and the blood seems to drain out of her face as she speaks ...*)
Ravenal: Do you know how it feels to be totally useless? To be told that your purpose is no longer valid, that you are no longer neccessary, despite having been led to believe you would be there forever?
Reno: Aight, 'tis vengeance then?
Ravenal: Indirectly speaking, yes. I was the Wrath of God once, you learn a few things about getting to somebody ...
Reno: Wait ... huh ... uh ... isn't that pretty much impossible?
Ravenal: What's the most effective place to strike a man to cause him the greatest pain?
Reno: Oh, that's easy, his crot--
Elena: AHEM.
Reno: -- err, I mean, his crutch ... y'see, you knock a guy's crutch out of hand, and he falls on his bum, and then he can't get up on account of the injury, which is an overall pain in the --
Ravenal: No. You strike his loved ones. Making him watch his beloved friends and family suffer and die will cause him more pain than any other method, for no one likes to watch those he loves cry out in pain.
Reno: Huh ... true that ... capitalizing all those pronouns, still makes some very vague sense ... I think ... maybe ... I could be wrong ... so you plan to run around torturing people?
Ravenal: Yes and no. I plan to make the human race suffer and die ... slowly. I could fill the world with plagues and catastrophes enough for a five-second apocalypse, but that would defeat the point. Humanity must feel pain. And after that, when humanity has destroyed itself, I will destroy everything else.
Reno: Animals, birds, bees, witches?
Ravenal: Everything. Mortals, Angels, Demons ... the Creation, Heaven, Hell ... everything I will destroy, slowly and agonizingly, until nothing is left ... aside from him and I.
Reno: Ouch.
Ravenal: Yes, it -- (*Stops, blinks. The blood returns to her face.*) I don't have time for this nonsense ... (*Drops Reno, jumps Elena, grabs the Black Materia, and runs the corner to dissappear into a much farther place ...*)
Tseng: Rude?
Rude: Yes, Tseng?
Tseng: I have a bad feeling about this.
Reno: Well you ought to!! The RL's gotten tired and lazy again ...
(*CRASH*)
Reno: Oops.
Elena: (*sigh*)
Whoa!! Now that was a big one ... chock full of refs, too, 15 pts. each. ^_- Hope I did everything fine ...