Start Ups Bounty Hunters: Brand New Journey

[Hector]

Rick had been meditating when he heard the voice. He knew the source of it and sighed. He just hoped that Juliet's tinkering hadn't caused yet another negative side effect. He opened his eyes, considering if he should go over to her or not. Since last time he had gone over to her when she wasn't herself... it hadn't gone well.

 

[Flaze]

"This all still seems really out there and I don't understand everything going on either,' Liza stared, glancing towards Hazel. "But I can't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to fight your own mother in this situation, and you've helped us out by giving us our skills back too," she smiled at Hazel before summoning forth Jean. 'So you can count on me and my Familiar, it's the least we can do."

"I concur," Kai stated, crossing his arms as he remembered what Ant had told him and Nova at the caves, to think that Hazel had been hiding all that all this time, it must've been horrible for her. "We've all counted with your help when we needed it so it's only fair we give you ours."

 

[Prez]

Hazel watched as Mordic got up. She was incredibly glad that she was awake, however, she knew better than to do or say anything. She smiled at Kai's comment.

"Thank you," she said. "I don't know how I'll ever repay you all..." she then quietly added.

"Cora's a monster," Ant simply commented. "I'll never forgive her for what she did to you. What she did to Eve."

Hazel lowered her head. "And she's destroying the city," she almost whispered. "I...."

The buzzing in her head made its return. Hazel grimaced, holding her head. Now was not the time. This couldn't happen. She managed to hold it back for now, but it was quite obvious that this would be a reoccurring event. Great.

"We need to go," Hazel suddenly said, the pain in her head still present. "If I remember correctly, she should be back down by the ruins."

 

[Hector]

Rick nodded. "I'm ready." He said quietly.

Juliet waved to the others. "I can't join you." She eventually said. "Side effects of everything... there's a reason that you don't want to mess around with minds that are this disorganized... especially so soon after waking up." She mused. "I'll be here when you get back."

 

[Taengoo]

Ammy gave what seemed to be an affirmative noise. It was very weird suddenly having a tongue again, almost unreal. Her weaponized arm hummed to life with PSI energy, claw-like gauntlet flexing smoothly and silently.

Mordic closed her eyes, arms crossed over her chest. When she opened them again, instead of normal spherical pupils, draconic slits greeted each of the guild members with a piercing stare. She said nothing, but was ready to move on a moment's notice.

 

[Flaze]

"Yeah, let's do it," Kai nodded his head in agreement as he began walking. That's when he felt his body wobble a little, thankfully it wasn't too much, but it was enough for him to notice. He hadn't taken into account how fatigued he had gotten from the journey through the cave without his skills and the day in general, but he wasn't about to comment on it. He quickly glanced towards Ammy, noticing her arm. "Oh, what do you think of the new arm by the way? does it move okay?"

 

[Alolan Ninetales]

"Are you sure you are able to go?" Kari asked as she noticed Kai staggering.

"I have to go," Bria commented to herself mostly, "I can't let the same mistake happen again."

 

[Taengoo]

"...Yes, it's...fine." Ammy muttered, turning away from Kai to mask her embarrassment. She was so accustomed to using external telepathy to convey thoughts and speech....but now she had a tongue, and a rather heavy accent (much to her chagrin) to boot.

 

[Hector]

While Hazel had healed Rick's wounds from Mordic's attack, the fact still remained that he had been shot and stabbed in the same day and he wasn't going to be running on all cylinders. Not that he would say anything about it. His armor would do its job and keep everything in one place. He'd gotten the armor repaired and as such there were no holes or structural weaknesses. He'd also made a mental note to wash the blood out when he got a chance. He had gone back to meditating, his mind on what was to come. He hadn't protested Hazel giving him his skills back because he had known it wasn't going to go anywhere. But perhaps she was right, this wasn't the time to be handicapping himself. Especially since he still had a bullet hole in him, he'd be a step slow.

 

[Flaze]

"Awww, don't be embarassed," Liza teased as she looked at Ammy, noticing her expression. "I think it's nice to hear your actual voice."

"Yeah I'll be fine," Kai said as he turned towards Kari, smiling confidently. "Just a little tired is all, but it shouldn't be much of a problem."

 

[Yun]

Magog's voice spoke up in Hazel's mind. You get a little power and now you want to take on the alpha wolf? Can't say I hate your spunk.

quack

 

[Prez]

"It'll take a bit of getting used to," Hazel said to Ammy with a smile. "But I'm glad I was able to help," she added. Despite how horrible this day had been, Hazel had to admit, some good came from it. Ant walked up next to her, shooting her a worried look.

"You ready?" he asked. "We'll need quite a bit of help from you."

Hazel let out a shaky sigh. "Yes," she quietly answered. "It has to be done."

This was when Hazel heard Magog running through her thoughts. "You again..." she quietly muttered. Ant glanced at her yet again, concern even more apparent in his features. However, Hazel kept her stare straight forward and away from him. She was too shaken to even comment, but she knew what she had to do.

Turning back to face the others, Hazel tried to at least feign a bit of confidence. It was time to go, and she knew it. Taking a deep breath, she rose her hands up, causing the ground beneath them to rise. Anyone who was joining in the on fight was now headed towards the ruins, carried by the moving earth.

A few minutes later, Cora sensed the guild's arrival. She glanced at Taren and Finn, who were now nursing their stab wounds. "Time to show you how a real master can get it done," she simply mused.

Finn weakly glanced up at Cora, hate apparent in her eyes. "Fuck off..." she sputtered out, clearly struggling to stay awake.

 

[Taengoo]

Ammy's face had almost immediately flushed red at Liza's comment, to which she muttered Japanese profanity under her breath in response. Her complexion had (luckily) returned to its normal hue by the time they reached Cora's gang. She smirked, popping the knuckles of her organic hand.

Mordic was beginning to mumble in the strange language from before, popping her neck and staring at Finn with murder dancing in her slitted, draconic crimson irises.

 

[Flaze]

"Guess there's no turning back now," Kai stated, closing his eyes for a moment before turning his fists in to iron as he took on a fighting stance. Liza herself had let Jean out but had also summoned Artemis to help.

 

[Hector]

"There was never going to be an ending but this one." Rick remarked idly to Kai as he stepped forward twirling both his blades as he walked.

 

[Prez]

“I heard you unlocked our family’s little secrets,” Cora bitterly muttered, glancing at Hazel. “You know, I was trying to do that. How disrespectful. That could have helped me a bit."

Hazel simply stared as her mother talked, an uneasy feeling stirring in the pit of her stomach. Rain continued to drizzle over the open field. A huge pile of rocks quietly stood still; it was hard to believe people were in there mere hours ago. It was hard to believe it was once a cave. The catacombs.

“I’d… call stabbing... disrespectful,” Finn quietly said from on the ground. It was quite clear she was close to passing out. Something in Cora snapped, causing the older woman to suddenly kick Finn.

“Shut up!” she exclaimed, fury evident in her face. Finn simply groaned upon impact; there wasn’t much she could do. Cora simply lifted her leg again. She was about to strike, this time even harder.

However someone, to the surprise of Hazel, began to sprint. Fast. Before Cora’s kick could land, it was halted by something soft. Something… definitely not human.

Finn glanced up. It was Ant. His arm, made up of numerous vines, blocked the attack.

“Pick on someone your own size,” he said between gritted teeth.

Cora’s expression first read that of shock. However, after a moment, she simply laughed. “You’re done playing around, Antonio?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. “Finally getting serious? An arm will do that to you, I suppose,” she mused.

“When it came to you, I was serious long ago,” he simply said, still glaring. Suddenly, his arm rose, and large, thick vines began to assault Cora. Coming from various different directions, they began to swarm the older woman. However, they were burned right from the moment they made contact with her skin. Cora made her move, and Hazel knew it. A huge wall of flames began to approach Ant, Finn, and Taren.

Ant tightened his eyes, preparing for impact. His plants couldn’t stand a chance against such heat. However, the attack never came. Instead, the sound of sizzling could be heard; the fire was extinguished.

A moment passed.

“Thanks, Hazely,” Ant eventually commented with a grin, glancing at the younger woman. Hazel stood with her arm raised. Her eyes full of anger.

“Of course,” she said. “I had to repay the favor.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Let’s drop the heroism and actually fight.” She then suddenly ran towards Hazel, a long spear of ice forming over her arm. Hazel blocked it, throwing a kick at the woman. Cora dodged. The fight began. Behind Cora were Zed and Akuno, ready to fight.

Ant frantically looked over Taren and Finn. They would die. Quick. Without thinking, the young man began to grow small, tiny plants. They had healing properties, similar to the kind Doc told him about. He got to work at fixing the two. It would take quite a bit of time, as he was new to this, but it was being done.

 

[Flaze]

Kai appeared from behind Cora as she engaged Hazel, a pair of knives in his right hand. He quickly swung his arm forward, throwing the knives at her back.

Zed snickered once the fight began, if this was finally their chance to take out the group then he had to pull out all the stops. He charged forward, immediately going after Ammy as he swung his sword at her. "Hey there!" he yelled out, only for his slash to be blocked by Jean's spear, with Liza standing not too far away. "Oh, and who's this."

"None of your business," Liza said with disdin and she threw a kick at Zed with her metalic leg, though Zed simply moved aside in return.

 

[Alolan Ninetales]

Brie had finally gained her creature form. A giant wolf with a golden mask, golden chains and a long mane. Her fangs were large as she roared. Electricity crackled around her as she ran toward the fight.

 

[Taengoo]

Ammy simply smirked, sticking out her tongue at him, metallic arm shifting into its gatling gun form. She raised it, the eight individual barrels pointed at Zed. "I see you're stupid enough to try again," she remarked smugly, the firearm roaring to life.

"Akur'a xotl... Voxy-qiaztrkur'a xylantros...." Mordic chanted in a low tone, walking towards the enemy. a large, mantis-like appendage suddenly entered her peripheral vision. Without batting an eye, her arm morphed into its wendigo counterpart, catching the acidic blade with effortless precision. Her draconic eyes flickered over to the attacker, staring into unfamiliar, mismatched eyes.

"You go....no...further," Akuno murmured, her insectoid feelers attached to her mandible twitching erratically. The creature swung her other appendage at the demon in hopes that it would catch Mordic off-guard - there was no such luck, however, as the teenager before her snapped her wendigo digits around the wrist.

 

[Hector]

While his guild mates charged into the fray, Rick stayed back. He took a moment to consider the tactical situation. They had Cora and her remaining minions massively outnumbered, the advantage was theirs. And then he realized something. Ant would be open to attack while he was healing Taren and Finn. Rick went over to him and looked down at the downed siblings. "You do what you need to do Ant." Rick muttered, his swords at the ready. "I will protect you and these two while you do what you can."