Mission #112: Million Doller Men

[paradoxpanda]

Artimes shuffled, Feeling the cool breeze as it brushed by her. This was a big mess of trouble. Huge in fact. A bunch of wealthy Hob-Nobbers all gathered around a park full of dangerous animals, looking for some exotic entertainment. And they had the bad luck to fall right into a grade A trap, and now, they are sitting pretty as the hostages of a bunch of trigger happy terrorists looking to make an easy 30 million.

She was having trouble deciding if she was upset that she hadn’t thought of it first. As it stood however, there was a reward offered. Not as much as the random, only a fraction really. But still enough to be well above her minimum paycheck. She’d signed on to take the terrorists out and bring the bumbling Barons back. Thing was, she wasn’t the only one to sign up. This other woman, Artimes wasn’t sure who she was or what she was like, but she seemed competent enough. And in the end, that was more important.

Looking into the game preserve, Artimes drew her sword, the Épée fitting comfortably in her hand. “Alright, Hotaru was it? What do you think? I go left, you go right We cut though from the sides and flank them” She smiled a little “Sound good?”

[lily]

Hotaru had only met Artemis a few hours ago but was surprised that she knew her strategy already. They had met once the panic of the situation that was currently going on had set in through most of the Frost Kingdom. Although at the time Hotaru had thought Artemis was only a hummingbird with above average intelligence. Regardless of how evil Hotaru truly was it was around summer time in the North Blue so her killing intent was softened and she was more willing to work with others. As a result of this when she had discovered Artemis was truly a person she decided to work with her to the extent of gaining this reward from the Nobles...she looked strong.

After hearing what Artemis had to say Hotaru simply nodded and said "I thin~k..it would easier to just take down everything in our path~..but i'm in a good mood so if you think this is goo~d i'll follow you for now..I could use that money~!" She looked down into the forest below and could hear animals of all kinds down there..taking a leap forward she jumped down into the forest and used Vanish to speed off to the right heading in a circle to enclose on the terroists.

[paradoxpanda]

Artemis watched as her….companion?...Partner?...Associate? Yes, that was probably the best word. Watched as her associate contemplated the plan, expressing some small misgivings, before agreeing to it. The Young woman descended into the Frey, before fading into the brush. We’re it not for her own swiftness, Artemis doubted very much that she’d even have caught a blur of the woman’s movement.

Mentally releasing the hatch on her power, she felt the itch as feathers pressed up through her skin, the shifting of bones in her shoulder blades as wings took shape there. She could see her nose lengthening out to a point, and the hand at her blade grew stiff and clawed, now a pair of talons. In hear ears, her heartbeat jumped up to a mighty staccato, and her muscles twitched slightly, eager for movement. She had some reserves of fuel, a large meal provided by the worried family having filled her internal supply.

Taking flight, she darted down, moving through the air, nimbly sliding left and right through the trees, the act almost effortless. Moving opposite to Hotaru, she swept wide to ensure that she didn’t alert the group to her presence, not just yet anyway.

Meanwhile

Within the tree’s, A slight breeze began to stir. Not odd, the winds in the area we’re muted thanks to the wall, but not absent. But what was odd was the movement of the tree’s itself. The branches we’re swaying, not in line with the air currents, but actually swaying against them, pushing towards Hotaru. Whether she knew it or not, the girl had found her way into the hunting grounds of the Hangmen tree. A vicious predator which disguises itself as a large mangrove tree. With a snap of its limbs, vines descended down, moving fast, hoping to snare their prey, wring the breath out of her.

[lily]

Hotaru was moving pretty fast but not at 100% speed...he evil personality was kicking in slightly and she wanted the nobles to suffer a little bit before "saving them" even if it was for their own money which Hotaru wasn't greedy per say..but couldn't pass up an opportunity like this one. She was smiling greedily when she noticed a shadow rapidly descending upon her. When she looked up she saw tree branches above her head and so she pivoted on her right foot to avoid them before using Vanish again to move quicker off to the right before sliding to a stop and brandishing her Magic wand Pistol. "My My~ Seems we've got quite the tenacious one...are you ready to di~e?"


Over by where Artemis was a growling could be heard. Suddenly as she was flying a large hand made an attempt to grab her but missed due to her speed. However a second hand reached out and swiped at her which also missed as she was moving forward. A roar could then be heard as a 10 foot tall creature came out of the brush that looked like a cross between a gorilla and a tiger. It leaped at Artemis and attempted to punch her..it seemed that this wasn't going to be as easy to casually dodge as the last strikes...

[paradoxpanda]

Artemis noted the enormous hand rising up towards her. Noted and avoided. This process was repeated a moment later when it happened again. It seemed she wasn’t alone in the forest. A tremendous roar erupted, as a mighty beast burst from the brush. Built like an ape, colored like a tiger, and vicious as both from the looks of it. As it pounced, she twisted about, fling backwards, retreating from the blow. Her weapon raised to take the brunt of the force, and with her flying, she was able to roll with the punch rather well, all but negating the strike. “Hope they don’t charge me for this” She said aloud, knowing that the price to be permitted to hunt in the woods was rather hefty.

Fluttering her wings, she rose up a minute windstorm, kicking up all manner of leaves from the jungles floor. Her form dwindled down as she became a hummingbird proper, just as small as the leaves, almost matching in color. Circling round to the beasts backside, she return to her hybrid form, lunging forward to stab the beasts exposed back.


Meanwhile

The ‘tree’ turned, its roots pulling up as it faced the young girl. A knothole on its trunk twisted, revealing itself to be a maw filled with teeth, a gurgling scream bellowing out as it lashed out at the girl. The sound of breaking branches rung through the tree’s as it brought one giant limb down, more than enough to squash the girl flat.

[lily]

"Hope they don't charge me for this.." the voice of the girl registered in the Gorilla Tiger's head. He growled a little bit as the girl/bird summoned a windstorm which blinded him and then procedded to move behind him. She lunged forward in an attempt to attack but even though the beast was large it still had the senses of a tiger. As it heard the fluttering of her wings it whirled around and attempted a backhand at the girl which would either mean that she would connect with him and he would connect with her or she would have to back off and try again. He growled and waited, prepared for anything she would do to try and retaliate.

Hotaru
As the tree brought down another swinging branch, Hotaru paused for a moment to view the gaping maw that could be called the tree's mouth. It would be hard to get out of that if she was trapped in there someone..but she still needed to avoid the branch just as badly so instinctively she used Vanish once more to dodge the wild swinging branch that would come down to strike her and fired her Magic Wand/Pistol at the Tree's open mouth which would hopefully cause some sort of pain to it. She didn't want to have to resort to Firefly on such a weak animal.

[paradoxpanda]

Artemis was sure her blow would strike true, sure that the creature’s girth would render it incapable of keeping up with her movements. However, she was wrong, as the current backhanded swipe headed towards her would indicate. And since her options seemed to be limited to dodging or landing a hit, but not both, she quickly backpedaled, retreating out of reach. Between the two of them, it seemed likely the Tigorilla would likely hit her much harder than she could return the favor. Hoping to catch the animal as it revered from its wide swing, she pressed her attack again with another series of jabs. Knowing now that the beast could move faster than she’d believed at first, it still couldn’t come close to matching her.

Meanwhile.

Pulling the last of the roots free, the tree-beast now stood fully, its massive limbs flailing. The gunshot struck its target, a gurgling of blood suddenly sputting out of its lips. Whether it was injured or just further enraged was unclear, As it came rushing towards girl, its vines again coming down, this time to grasp the magician around her ankles, hold her still as it swung a haymaker blow at its soon to be meal.

[lily]

The Gorilla Tiger or Tigorilla (Yes i've made that it's permanent name >_>) roar with a sense of dominance as Artemis backed off and grinned wildly as it began to beat on it's chest like a gorilla. It was so confident in it's abilities that it didn't notice Artemis flying back at him for a second round of lighting fast jabs until it was almost too late. It brought up it's huge open palm on it's non dominant hand and took the blows which pierced through multiple parts of it's hand. Roaring out in pain he clutched it in his non damaged hand and glared at Artemis with a murderous intent. It was time to finish it...he began to move forward at very fast speeds with an open mouth attempting to rip Artemis to shreds.

Hotaru

Hotaru watched as blood squirted from the tree's mouth and began to lick her lips in a sadistic sense. She watched as it flew into a rage and ran forwards as to attack her directly. It seemed it was aimed for her feet and was attempting to fling her into the maw. However she wasn't going to let that happen "It's been fun tree~ But you're going to die now~" She quickly showed about 90% of her full speed (which was much faster then she had let on from earlier displays) and almost instantly appeared next to the tree. She pointed her wand at it's "eyes" and took two shots off and then it's mouth. Hoping to finish the fight..

[paradoxpanda]

Artemis felt the weight of her blows as they tore into the hand. 4…5…6. Six tendons torn. Probably crippled it. Long term, it might heal, but more likely the poor thing was dead already, since it’s ability to hurt was likely to be hindered greatly. Now, she wasn’t a bleeding heart environmentalist, but at the same time, she didn’t want to leave this brute wallowing in pain for days. It roared, one berserk with pain and fury as it came for her. Dropping to the ground, she took her stance. “Requiem la Banderole” With a single motion, she brought her weapon up. To all eyes the movment was far removed from its target, a casual gesture. In a perfect world, the technique would delay for several moments before the blow was felt, its extreme speed leaving the after effects unnoticeable. But This was no perfect world. Artemis had yet to perfect the move, as such, the Tigorilla would be feeling the strike almost instantly as the gash appeared over its throat.

Meanwhile

While the Hangmen’s tree was many things, fast was not one of them. The girl was ontop of it before it even realized what was going on. It felt the sting as its eye was shot out, then again. Surrounded by darkness, it cried in plan, moving wildly. The third strike to its throat was worse, its blood welling up, flooding through its airway, into its lungs. With a few wet gasps, it struggled for air, before collapsing, now as immobile as any other tree in the woods.

[lily]

The Tigorilla was still rushing forward but found himself in incredible pain due to the wound he had recieved...something felt off...he was wavering as he ran due to the intense, sharp pain in his arm. She must have done something to it was the conclusion was what his feeble animal mind could come up with. It made him even more angry to think about it..stupid girl...with his free hand he clenched a fist and was about to slam it with all the force he had left into the girl's flimsy body before he noticed the girl was in an abnormal stance. "Requiem la Banderole" was all he heard before everything went white and he erupted with blood from every possible spot on his body. With that..he collapsed in a heap in the middle of the forest clinically dead.


Hotaru

"My My~ That wasn't much of a challenge~" said Hotaru as she pocketed her Magic Wand. "I didn't even have to use Firefly..I hope the next one's better~" she began to move again farther into the forest as she didn't want to lose to Artemis. She wanted to kill those terrorists and have their blood stain her own hands...

[paradoxpanda]

Artemis watched the beast as it fell. It really was a fine sight, a remarkable creature. She liked its pelt especially, the coloration was unique, very shiny. Clean the blood out, and it’d make a lovely throw rug. She made a note of her position, so she could come back afterwards, collect the kill. Perhaps she could even make a cloak out of it, which would be an impressive sight.

But not now.

For the time being. She needed to keep moving. The fight had been brief, but a few more skirmishes like that and she’d be drained. For all its benefits, being a hummingbird was a strain on her body, always hankering for a meal, burning through calories almost as fast as she could eat them. Gorging herself earlier was helping, but still, it paid to be conservative in this matter. Last thing she needed was to reach the criminals holdout and be to hungry to stand.

Her wings humming to life, she took to the air again, moving above the tree line. Scanning the surrounding area, she spotted a clearing a short ways away. Buildings we’re visible. From the brief talks that she had with the family members and the park warden, it was likely that she was looking at one of the compounds. Supplies we’re kept there; food, ammo, medication. She alighted herself towards the building. If she was lucky, she could grab a quick snack, maybe grab some useful equipment.

Of Course, there was always the chase that there we’re a few enemies already camped out there. That would be no good.

[lily]

Hotaru had barely broken a sweat from that Hangman's tree. While Vanish did take a lot of her energy to keep her legs moving at that speed, luckily she didn't need to use her full speed which wears her out almost instantly if she uses it more than once. It also had to have helped that the Hangman's Tree wasn't incredibly fast nor did it manage to actually lay a hand on her. Although she hadn't exerted too much energy she was feeling kind of beat whether she wanted to show it and she figured if she (as she considered herself to be much faster than Artemis) was fighting a creature like this Artemis might be having trouble with it as well. For almost a millisecond it looked as if she had a look of sadness/concern on her face but this quickly subsided as she resumed her normal demeanor.

She leaned against the Hangman's Tree which was lying dead on the ground and eventually took a seat onto it. She took out her Magic Wand and began to reload some of the bullets as she had used about half of them during the fight. However it was during this time that she heard a rustling in the bushes near her and so without showing any sign of fear she pointed her Magic Wand at the bush. "Come out with your hands raised~" When nobody answered she began to move over towards the bush but it was at this moment that two figures rushed out of the bush in opposite directions as if to deter Hotaru from catching them.

They weren't terribly fast so as a result Hotaru took her Magic Wand and aimed towards the one on the left's ankles, taking two shots off which caused the man to collapse in pain. The other one however gained a sudden burst of speed and disappeared in the brush. It was in the split second that Hotaru decided to leave the incapacitated one and chase the other one..but who knows where he was headed...

[paradoxpanda]

Alighting on the roof of the compound, Artemis scanned around the interior. It was an entirely separate world on the inside. Tile flooring, marble columns, and lemon scented air fresheners. Even an elaborate fountain. It was a microcosm of a world, a total detachment from the jungle outside. It was almost enough to make someone think that the bird cries and rustle of wildlife from the other side of the walls was nothing more than a tone dial recording.

More importantly, the area appeared to be deserted. Dropping down to ground level, Artemis walked to the nearest structure, the kitchen. Just a bite she told herself, grabbing handful of grapes and nibbling on them. Moving on to the next building, she located a cache of weapons and ammunition. While some of the heavier weapons caught her eye, she doubted they’d do her much good at the moment. While a Gatling gun would make a wonderful addition to her arsenal, she almost certainly couldn’t fire one while flying. She did, however, help herself to the munitions, the explosives more than likely to come in handy at some point sooner or later.

Meanwhile

“GO!” Shouted the injured assailant, flagging his companion to keep going, a sentiment that the runner clearly had no issue following with. Hurrying into the underbrush, he sprinted in-between the tree’s, somehow keeping his footing despite the tangled roots and snares of low hanging branches.

Cursing, the bleeding terrorist drew his weapons, a pair of pistols, lining up Hotaru in his sights “Your Dog Meat” He growled, firing off the guns, birds scattering at the boom of the gunpowder.

[lily]

Over by Artemis voices of 5 people could be heard. From her position she couldn't be seen unless they entered the building but she could still hear them clearly. It seemed that two of them were advancing towards one of the two buildings. What they were saying consisted of "Well I wonder what could have made those type of wounds on a tree? I mean..it's not like the animals in here carry bullets.." the other voice responded to him by saying "Well we shouldn't have to worry about that..this person probably can't even get through our two bosses let alone the big boss.." both the voices laughed at this point as a more commanding, authoritative voice which was louder than the other two. "Stop this." it seemed to be a woman who said this "We may be the stronger than you underlings..but you never know who we're up against. Besides that..my nunchaku can destroy anything that comes within my range."

This person scoffed and began to move off into the forest. "Just take inventory around here..make sure none of the animals got into our food supply." she said walking off leaving the 4 underlings to do as they please. Two of them began to move through the food supply and noticed several things missing "Oi! someone or something took our food!" They began to search the whole compound frantically and it would only be a matter of time before Artemis was found.

Hotaru

"Your Dog Meat!" Hotaru heard this and turned her head around just in time to see two bullets fly at her. She dodged one gracefully but the other one managed to graze the side of her leg and cause her to bleed a bit from the open wound. She cringed a bit and then aimed her Magic Wand at the man's head and shot off three shots. She then turned back towards where the other man was running and pursued chase albeit a little slower due to her damaged leg...once she caught the man she would bandage that up.

[paradoxpanda]

Artemis froze, the voices from outside reaching her ears. Counting them, she could clearly hear 5. The discussion of tree’s sounded rather odd, though what followed was much clearer cut. Raiding supplies. The very idea she’d had her. Options rolled around in her mind. She could change forms and vanish away, or stay and fight. The former seemed a solid choice, but it did mean that she’d be left with enemies at her back. That was no good. Looks like she’d have to take them out if possible. If not, then she still had the option to retreat.

Taking one more explosive from the supplies, she lit the fuse quickly, and moved to the door. A the group approached, she tossed the explosive at one of the 4, quickly lunging forward towards the second, her blade liken to a spear. Her hand, now no longer occupied with the explosive, went to her pistol, which fired a shot at the third. Regardless of which attacks hit or missed, she pulled back, moving behind the concession stand to take cover from the upcoming blast.

Meanwhile.

The three bullets we’re two more than needed. The man went down, just as the tree had. As Hotaru moved through the brush, even injured as she was, she was doing well to catch up. The runner, glancing back and seeing he was still perused, Tossed a satchel over his shoulder. The drawstring slide open, caltrops tumbling all over. “Death spike Smoke Combo” He declared, adding a smoke bomb to the mix, feeling awfully clever for that, sure he’d be free of the girls presence soon.