Start Ups Bounty Hunters: Brand New Journey

[Taengoo]

After the umpteenth recession of tripping the burly man, Tun sighed and knocked him out with a kick to the head to end the boring match. She paid no mind to the beeping device that notified her of the victory - instead, she shoved her hands into her pocket and walked off with an aloof demeanor. The circle broke up into mindless chatter, and though a few tried to chase after her, she didn't give them the slightest acknowledgement. Time to move onto the next fight.

 

[Hector]

Rick dropped in behind Tuan from the rooftops and simply walked in silence beside her. He turned off his cloaking, not that it mattered. He knew by now that she'd always been able to sense his presence.

 

[Taengoo]

They shared a rather long moment of silence. Then, Tuan decided to break it with a dry chuckle, almost raspy from her blue-tinted lips. It turned to a slight grimace as it began to pour from the stormy clouds above.

She never truly liked the rain.

"Must be my lucky day. Nova catches me jumping off a roof, challengers are waltzing up to me thinking they'll have an easy match, it's raining, and now I'm found by the exact person I left intentionally. Gods, what's next, sending in the clowns?"

 

[Hector]

Rick rolled his eyes. "I believe we could convince Kai to dress up in a clown suit if it would set the power of friendship in motion." His voice was tinged completely with bitterness. "Look... I came to find you for a reason. I know you're hurting right now... and I know you're hiding things from me. Hiding things from us all." He sighed. "You know I love you and you know I always will... but I don't know if I can keep doing this. You running away and hiding things from me and lying to me... it's killing me."

 

[Taengoo]

She sighed at this. "I've noticed. And I know I haven't been being honest with you as of late... so we'll have to start small for the moment. I...apologize. You deserve much more than a filthy half-breed like myself.. I fucked up. That much I'm sure."

 

[Hector]

Rick shook his head. "Don't ever call yourself a filthy half-breed..." He sighed. "You're you... and I love you for it." Rick admitted. "And I appreciate your apology. And I'm sorry... for what last night into this morning. I was sleeping but... that is no excuse."

 

[Taengoo]

"She'd be much healthier in terms of relationships for you," she pointed out, glancing up to the late morning sky. "I wasn't distancing myself from you for no reason... there's a glaring possibility that I might die very soon. And I don't think I could take seeing you, of all people, in any more pain and suffering."

 

[Hector]

Rick didn't seem too shocked by this. He knew that Mordic and he both had a dark and dangerous past in common. "I know you were trying to save me from this pain... I can understand that... but by doing it without telling me... I think it just made it worse than it ever could have been with the truth." Rick looked up at the sky. "You can make it past whatever is coming for you if we stick together... you and me could have taken on the world..."

 

[Taengoo]

Tuan felt a ghost of a smile cross her features, despite herself. "If you want an explanation for the poor treatment... I wasn't raised with morals typical of this world. Even moreso, in wendigo tribes, morals and rules were nonexistent... That's why I donned that alias upon coming to this world. A makeshift ensemble for a flimsy facade at best. I had defined societal norms and domestic behaviors under six attributes. Morality, obstinacy, remorse, dignity, imperfection, concern. Does that sound familiar at all to you?"

Ammy was sitting on a bench, eating ice cream.

 

[Hector]

Rick paused for a moment to allow it to sink in. "M. O. R. D. I. C." He laughed. "I always found it a strange name but really I thought thought it was due to you being a wendigo." Rick admitted sheepishly. "And you know I can relate considering I raised myself for half my childhood."

 

[Taengoo]

This managed to steal a laugh from Tuan's lungs. "Yeah, well, I suppose my actual name is just as outlandish... so let's start this over." She closed her eyes, straightened up, and cleared her throat before facing him and opening her eyes once more. "Hello, my name is Tuan Kirie, and it is nice to meet you, Rick Masters. I never stopped loving you, and if you could find it in your heart to love a monster like myself, even only as friends...then maybe the future won't be so bleak?"

 

[Hector]

Rick smiled at this. Everything was going to be okay. "I continue to tell you that you're no monster..." He muttered. "Things got all screwed up, nobody can deny that... but please, come home with me. I don't know if I could take it if you didn't."

 

[Yun]

Hazel stayed in the room, trying to gather her thoughts over the events of late. Of course, given all the shit she was dealing with at once, she couldn't really absorb it all. At least, not all at once. She came back inside, sitting down on the couch. Bad memories there, too.

She didn't want to cry. Not while someone else was in the house.

Yet, somehow, the tears found their way down her face.


Nova swallowed a lump in his throat, wanting to enter the room again. He stopped midway through opening the door, the sound of Hazel's crying reaching his ears.

He decided against it, stepping away from the door. He had no idea. He could only assume that those tears were for Rick. Those tears that wouldn't have been shed had he not said anything.

So, he closed the door and made his way to the kitchen. He sat down in one of the chairs, taking in the sight of a bottle.

"No," he steadfastly said. That was one habit he wasn't going to start.

 

[Taengoo]

She paused for a moment, glancing up at the firmament above them once more. "..On two conditions."

"You or someone else...needs to give me lessons on morality. Or what's deemed socially acceptable, because I don't want a repeat of this discourse."

The next pause was almost dramatic, tension hanging in the air.

"The other is that Kai wears a clown costume. If not for a day, then a moment. I need to know if I still have a sense of humor."

 

[Hector]

Rick chuckled at the mention of Kai wearing a clown costume. "I feel like making the latter happen is going to be simpler." He admitted sheepishly. "Because I wouldn't exactly call myself moral. Or someone who knows how to really fit into society. Although I suppose Juliet could give both of us those lessons." He grinned. "She's rich after all. Which means she knows all this stuff."

 

[Taengoo]

She couldn't help but chuckle along with him. "Of course."

Maybe everything really would be okay after all.

"Lead the way, my knight in not-so-shining armor."

 

[Hector]

At this remark, Rick looked down at his armor. He had been neglecting it. "It's usually shiny." He muttered under his breath, making a mental note to sit down and polish and repair his armor the first chance he got. But he was smiling. Things were looking up now. "I'll tell Kai about your request when we get home."

 

[Taengoo]

"It's very imperative to the mission," she replied back with a smirk of her own.

 

[Hector]

Rick nodded. "Nothing could be more imperative to my mission." He said, reaching up to Tuan. Removing his right glove, he hesitantly reached out to gently caress her cheek. "God I missed you." Rick didn't mean to say this out loud, but say it out loud he did.

 

[Flaze]

Two main things happened later that day. First, all the participants in the tournament received information about who had passed to the next round and who hadn't. Liza, Nova, Hazel, Kai, Juliet, Ammy and Mordic had made it to the rounds while Bria and Ant had both been unable to gather the necessary points. This announcement was followed by an even bigger one.

"All of the participants moving up to the finals will meet in one's month time in Shangri-Lah, the city of perfection located in the East Continent," Atalla annoucned through the screens of each one of the devices, spreading his eyes out and smiling brightly. "That is where the main event will be taking place, I'm talking a stadium full of people, nay, a city full of people all waiting to see who will come out on top!" he said triumphantly. "Also, we will be adding a no killing rule for the finals and we'll also work out some more regulations, it was fun during the prelims but we gotta you know, make it easier for the audience, can't ruin the party too much right?"

Once the announcement was over Kai let out a sigh in relief. The prelims were finally over, but they were still in hot water and the finals were sure to be even harder. "That guy is fucking nuts," he could hear Ant's irritated voice from his seat, looking away from his phone as he quickly took a glance at Bria. "This whole thing's a waste of time."

But then a second announcement came in, this one from Sakura. The woman suddenly appeared inside of Bria's hospital room, surprising everyone inside with her entrance. "God I'm finally able to get here," the woman said with a long sigh, she was carrying a bouquet of roses on her harm. "I came here to take you guys away."