At the Blood Gulch Arms...

[ac-brothers.livejournal.com]

The dark was where Yazoo worked best. Even with his silver hair, he was still able to meld with the shadows and disappear from mortal eyes when he didn't want to be seen.

Leaving Kadaj and Loz at the pub, Yazoo told them he was taking off on a quick errand since it was slow. Several hours of waiting outside her building gave him the information he needed. She still hadn't returned from whatever it was she was doing, almost as if she were avoiding coming home, which...he couldn't blame her. It was quite a mess over at the town hall and he was sure the police were out looking for her.

He skirted along the alley under the cover of night and forced his way into Tex's shop. She lived above it, in the same building and Yazoo swiftly made his way up the stairs to her apartment. Not sure what exactly it was he was looking for, Yazoo figured with the way his luck was running, he might actually get lucky a second time.

After retreating in one of the many caves at Serenity Cove, O'Malley had finally returned to Blood Gulch Arms. He was curious to see if Red was keeping an eye on the place. At first he hadn't noticed the lone figure standing in the shadows, but his heightened sight had caught the slight movement. Maybe it was best to let Yazoo be, but O'Malley wasn't in the mood to think things over. That long haired freak had refused to join him and he wanted to know what the hell Yazoo was up to. Keeping his active camouflage on, he quietly followed Yazoo into the shop.

The apartment was almost as bare as the shop downstairs. There was an uncomfortable looking leather couch and a low glass coffeetable on which papers lay scattered carelessly. The few closets held little to tell about who lived there. Even now, as the living room lay empty, there were still feathers and droppings from the ducks covering the floor and furniture.

There were two doors, both standing open. The one to the right led to the kitchen which was a lot more cluttered than any other room in the apartment as it didn't seem O'Malley had cared much about doing the dishes.

The other door on the other side of the room led to the bedroom. It was more lived in than anything else. The bed was unmade and had clearly been slept in. As Tex didn't have much use for a whole set of clothes, there was only one wardrobe. There was however a bigger closet in which she stored her armor. And that was where Yazoo headed.

Things of value weren't what he was after. In truth, Yazoo was simply searching for something, a clue of some kind of what or who Tex was or turned into. With her being behind the armor, it was difficult to see what changes if any. It may not even really be Tex beneath the helmet, just someone using her armor and synthasizing her voice to throw people off.

Rooting around on her dresser he found a business card, one for the local law firm. Instinct more than anything told him it might hold some importance. Tex didn't have much use for them but they could be useful. Especially if this woman may have had something to do with Tex's bizarre behavior.

It was a sound, soft and almost negligible except for the fact that Yazoo did hear it. He tucked the card away in the back of a glove and in one swift motion turned toward the bedroom door and pulled his gunblade.

Sometimes wearing armor had its disadvantages. O'Malley cursed inwardly and tried to ignore Tex' smirking somewhere at the back of his mind. He took a few steps sideways, pressing himself up against the wall and waited.

It was dark but not pitch black. Yazoo still couldn't see anything or anyone but he knew she was there, like on the fringes of his perception. He closed his eyes. They would be useless at this point.

"I know you're out there. Do you have a name because you're not Tex, although you wear her armor."

"Oh, I don't know. If I wear her body, doesn't that make me her?" O'Malley laughed, but quickly moved further away from the bedroom door as his voice would give away his position.

"No. It doesn't." Yazoo kept his eyes closed, picking up the barest whisper of movement, his gun tracking along. He remembered the bedroom door's location and kept that firmly lodged in his mind.

Yazoo was not the kind of man to run from a fight. He was fearless, perhaps a bit careless, and ruthless to his core. He was also, very not stupid either.

He had talked enough with Tex, spent enough time watching her and studying her armor to know he didn't have the firepower on him right then to break past that. With his brothers? Most certainly. It was why he always fought with his brothers. Victory in numbers. She wouldn't have been a problem with Loz and Kadaj there.

"So who are you and how do you know her?"

"I'm O'Malley," he replied as he moved slowly, as quietly as he could to put himself between Yazoo and the stairs. "Let's just say we've been sharing an armor and a mind."

He tilted his head. "Allison's got quite the fan club here. Are you the local president?"

"Maybe," Yazoo said quietly, drawing a bead on O'Malley's voice. He needed to get out. And now.

"I'd love to stay and chat but I'm keeping you from taking over the universe. So I'll be on my way," and Yazoo, eyes still closed, started toward the door and his only escape route other than the window.

"Now now, I've got time for a little fun." O'Malley laughed and crouched down where he was standing, preparing himself to pounce as soon as Yazoo made it into the living room. "Allison seems to think that you like a good game."

"And she would be right," Yazoo said calmly. "But I would rather play with her, than with you, no offense." He kept moving even though he had a very bad feeling he wasn't going to make it out without some kind of scrap with O'Malley.

Unzipping his jacket, he reached in and pulled out a semiautomatic pistol to increase his field of fire. "Don't make this ugly."

O'Malley laughed loudly as he watched the weapon Yazoo got out. "You're going to have to come up with something a lot better than that pathetic piece of iron," he sneered. "Maybe I should make things easier for you," he fingered the active camouflage, but didn't turn it off just yet.

"Easier? Letting Tex back out would be easiest, I think." Yazoo was still moving. He knew O'Malley was right and that galled him to no end. Just a little further to the door and he could be through the front and down the stairs. O'Malley may have armor but Yazoo was fast. And he had the added advantage of knowing the terrain better than O'Malley did, so he could slip into the shadows more efficiently.

Slip out, get his brothers and come back enmasse. It was really his only chance for success.

"Allison is weak without me," O'Malley shouted and hit the active camouflage just before he pounced towards Yazoo.

The shout and the obvious movement, Yazoo pulled both guns around, his eyes snapping open to see Tex, no, O'Malley lunging for him. He was able to get off one shot before their bodies collided.

The bullet hit O'Malley square in the chest and would probably have been lethal if it wasn't for the armor. Now it merely caused the shield to spark and it bounced off harmlessly. O'Malley was still laughing as his weight brought Yazoo down with him as his hand went automatically for Yazoo's throat.

Yazoo's gunblade whipped around to block the hand coming for his throat. In terms of strength, the armor gave O'Malley the advantage. He would just have to be faster.

Flipping the 9mm around and grasping the barrel, Yazoo pistol whipped on O'Malley's face plate, the gun crashing hard against the armor.

O'Malley's head snapped back, but the armor flared up again and prevented the hit from doing any more damage than piss O'Malley off. Growling, he grabbed for Yazoo's hand that was holding the pistol while he tried to knock the gunblade out of Yazoo's hand.

Once both of O'Malley's hands were engaged, throwing his balance and leverage off, Yazoo arched his back. One foot placed flat on the floor, he grunted and pushed hard to try to roll them, an attempt to gain an advantage.

It wasn't a move O'Malley had been expecting as he didn't think Yazoo would even try this considering at how much of a disadvantage he was. Just for a moment, O'Malley was pushed off before he had time to get back in control and throw his full weight at the freak.

Springing back, Yazoo shoved hard to get distance between them. His foot lashed out to strike at O'Malley's head again as Yazoo tumbled backward to crash into the far wall.

The doorway to the stairs going down was open and Yazoo made a break for it, opening fire with both guns on his way to the door.

Just like before the bullets bounced right off the shield. Unbothered, but now definitely pissed off, O'Malley jumped to his feet with a speed that seemed unnatural for anyone in such a cumbersome armor. "I didn't say playtime was over," he taunted as he caught up with Yazoo as he reached the door. Not going for style but for pure strength - and he had lots - he raised his arm and made a powerful swipe at Yazoo's head.

Pulling up short to keep the blow from landing in his face, Yazoo still couldn't prevent it from connecting on his shoulder. The force of the swing sent him back into the room, crashing against the far wall and leaving a man sized indentation in the drywall.

He bounced and went to his knees, struggling for just a moment before pushing off low and tight with a flurry of swings with both the gunblade and the 9mm. Yazoo knew from recent experience they wouldn't have much affect but he didn't need O'Malley injured at this point, although that would be nice, he just needed the man out of his way so he could get to his brothers to regroup.

O'Malley staggered back as it's hard to get a hold in so much movement. Focussing himself, he grabbed for Yazoo's shoulder to push him back and away from the door while at the same time he aimed a low shot at Yazoo's stomach.

Yazoo's body was racked in pain from his collision with the wall earlier. The punches O'Malley was able to land connected with force backed by the power of the armor and it felt like fire ran through his veins.

The blow to his stomach took Yazoo's breath and he hissed through clenched teeth, stained with blood. Giving O'Malley a baleful look, he stuck his gunblade right at the join of helmet to armor and pulled the trigger several times in succession.

The shielding kicked right in and absorbed the damage of the gunblade effortlessly. The close impact did do its damage and O'Malley was blown back, the blows hitting just the softer part of his armor and taking his breath away.

Once he had O'Malley away from him, Yazoo raced forward again, raining down a flurry of gun strikes, punches and kicks in and effort to push him further back. If he could land enough and keep O'Malley off balance, he could gain the upper hand.

It worked for a moment, but not long enough. Under the flurry of hits, O'Malley slowly straightened up as he was able to breath again. "Wrong move, freak," He growled. "Now let's see if that skinny frame of yours is aerodynamic." With a sneer, he grabbed hold of Yazoo's throat, his fingers held an iron grip as he lifted him off the ground and then threw him back.

Sailing through the air, Yazoo landed less than gracefully against what used to be a lovely glass coffee table.

He rolled up and shook the glass and wood out of his hair, wiping at the blood along his cheek. Sneering, he charged again and at the last moment, he swiveled to the side to sweep O'Malley's legs out from under him.

When armor goes down, it goes down. There was a loud thump as O'Malley hid the floor hard, but it didn't take long for him to roll to his side and grab hold of Yazoo's leg. Giving a mighty tug, he pulled him to the ground beside him. He didn't let go however and pushes his legs down to the ground so he could hit his shins hard.

The flat of his gunblade took the brunt of the blow, but it wasn't enough to cushion it completely. Pain lanced up through his legs and caused his vision to white out.

Lashing out, he stuck the automatic in O'Malley's faceplate and emptied the clip.

Even with the shield, O'Malley could feel the hits as they rattled even his teeth. He pulled back as the sparks from the shield in combination with his night vision momentarily blinded him. Still, his grip on Yazoo's leg remained and as he scrambled up, he dragged Yazoo along with him over the floor and the glass shards.

Dragged along, Yazoo tossed the empty gun away and brought the gunblade around, firing at Tex's back. His free foot kicked at the grip on his leg.

The hit pushed him forwards and he let go of Yazoo as he kept himself from falling down. "I've had it with you. Game's over," O'Malley snarled as he quickly turned around, ready to pounce his prey and get rid of it.

Yazoo staggered to his feet, his body protesting and feeling as if it's on fire. There was an annoying grating in his chest from possibly broken ribs. The pain was enough to indicate at least fractured. He coughed, blood coming up and splattering the floor. Not one to give up, Yazoo would not die here. Even if it meant being taken in with the police.

He could hear the sirens now, the town wasn't that big. The cops would be here in no time. Not that Yazoo wanted to be caught by them, but they could buy him the time he needed with O'Malley. He raised his gunblade to aim at O'Malley one more time.

The shot hit O'Malley's shoulder and he could feel it ache, another bruise to add to his annoyance with this silver freak. Still oblivious to the sirens, his attention too focussed on the fight at hand, he charged forward and tried to get in as many blows to Yazoo's torso as he tried to corner him against one of the closets.

The flat of his gunblade was able to deflect a good many of O'Malley's onslaught against him. Still, a few managed to get by his defenses and added to the creeping soreness and damage he was taking at O'Malley's hands. He refused to be cornered, however, trying to keep his feet under him and to keep his back to open room. The constant barrage was starting to wear him down, however, added to internal damage and Yazoo wasn't seeking as much of an attack at this point as a way to just get away.

His brothers. He needed to get to his brothers...

O'Malley wasn't going to give him a chance to get anyone to back Yazoo up. He laughed as he could feel Yazoo's defence dropping with each blow.

"Getting tired? Maybe you'd like a nap. I'm sure I can provide you with a permanent one." With that he pulled back just enough to give himself more power as he dealt Yazoo a mightly blow, intent on throwing him back across the room. At the back of his mind, he could hear noise down on the street.

Airborne, Yazoo could feel himself lifted and thrown. He just managed to get his feet back under him when he collided with the living room window. It gave way with a mighty crash and vaguely he could feel the glass to pierce his side as he was once more in the air, shards raining down on him...with him.

The sidewalk didn't give near as nicely as the drywall did and Yazoo bounced and flipped, skidding, thankfully, to a stop in a crouch. It cost him however, as the pain radiated through his entire right side, a large jagged piece of glass jutting from his body. He didn't spare a look up or around, just making speed with as much haste as he could to the safety of the shadows to the sounds of the approaching sirens.

O'Malley watched Yazoo from the window, he cursed as the freak fled and hit his fist against some of the remaining glass. Behind him, he could hear voices as the police filtered into the shop and started up the stairs. He could take the path Yazoo had taken, but where would be the fun in that? Laughing maniacally, because that is what he did after all, he hit the active camouflage and crouched down.

As soon as the first cop made it up the stairs, he pounced forward and pushed the cop down with him. O'Malley raced after the falling body, hitting as many cops on his way down as he could. The officers downstairs only got to see their comrades being thrown back and tried to aim blindly at whatever was causing the reaction. Not that it bothered O'Malley much as he made it out on the street and jumped up on the nearest police car, using it as a trampoline to get onto the roof of the houses.

He looked down once more, trying to locate Yazoo, but there wasn't time to waste. His armor needed to recharge again and weak as the kid had been, he could feel the bruises forming on his throat and shoulder. He'd get him eventually, he'd make a silver sweater out of the freak's hair.

[ooc - Preplayed scene with freelancerchick. OOC comments welcome, no IC interaction please.]

Comments

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

[[ooc but ic: OMG, don't make CJ smack a bitch, O'Malley!]]

[[SO ooc: You two are devils...a cliffhanger? What's up with that? *pops popcorn, waits not-so patiently*]]

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

[OOC: Seconds CJ-mun on the cliffhanger. Dudes! Not nice!]

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

[OOC: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! *applauds*]

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

Shit, yo, y'all need some of JC's firepower? ;)

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

((ooc: *applauds*))