Claimed to avert a catastrophe

[circusmaster]

Who: Smiley and Griffin
When: Friday, shortly after the evening sirens
Where: The closest subway stop to the Tower Apartments.
Summary: A train delay puts Smiley only a few blocks away from home just as the sirens are going off, and the Darkness waits for no man.
Warnings: Violence, maybe? Nothing major.

Train scheduling is a difficult art to master. Smiley tries to keep that in mind as he walks briskly down the street beneath the blare of the sirens. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop him from cursing the drivers or the conductors-- maybe even the other passengers on the train or whoever caused the delay. Normally the train reached his stop fifteen minutes before sirens, giving him an adequate cushion to get safely back to the apartments.

Now, Smiley is breaking into a brisk jog just to keep ahead of the decay unfurling behind him. He can already tell he won't make it in time, and his hand is curled around the pistol in his coat pocket for probable future use. Smiley can't think of the last time he actually had to fire his gun, but now seems as good of a time as ever when a headless looking, elephant footed beast emerges from the alleyway nearest to him. He swallows his nausea at the scent of the ooze coming from where the neck should be and fires into it.

Comments

[classdismissed]

Griffin had been doing very good lately, about staying indoors when the sirens went off. Part of that had to do with the injuries he sustained when dealing with Angelus, but part of it was simply not having the desire like he used to. However, the past couple weeks have been fairly rough. He has Anna again, but now it's being thrown into his face that he's weak in comparison with most of the Port's inhabitants. Anna's last sexual encounter just got posted all over the Network and he can't even hurt the guy who did it. Anything that's a potential threat to him here could wipe the floor with him. Griffin's being reminded of that a lot lately. He wants to beat up something.

It's the bat tonight. It's one of Griffin's favorites. The bat he had originally brought with him is long gone now, having been shattered pretty early on in the game. He now owns a wonderful titanium replacement. Griffin hasn't even started yet when he hears gun shots from pretty far off. He rolls his eyes to himself quite dramatically. Guns. Bah.

Curious, he Jumps closer to the source of the noise. He's in some alleyway, where he can see one of the Headless taking bullets. Griffin knows he has to put an end to this quick. He bangs his bat against the alley wall. The clatter makes the beast turn and lumber in Griffin's direction. "Come here, boy." He finds a jagged piece of metal, something that's fallen off of a fire escape. Griffin sucks in a breath and merely holds the improvised weapon up. The Headless does the rest by running into it mouth first. They're not as bright as some of the other Darkness creatures. It shrieks and falls over gracelessly, dead by the time it hits the ground.

Griffin emerges from the alley to find the gunman, a bespectacled old man. He shakes his head in disbelief. "You know that thing is just a noisemaker at this time of night."

[circusmaster]

Smiley had hoped the bullets would distract it long enough to escape, but it merely shuddered and lurched forward towards the sound. So when the clinging of the bat distracts it, he begins to wonder how many more in the area are attracted to sound.

Though he's surprised by the sudden appearance of the young man, his brevity in dispatching the monster is even more surprising. After a few moments of contemplation, it becomes promising.

Wordlessly, Smiley looks down at his pistol. He's seen people outside his window killing the creatures with guns, but they probably weren't so old, and possibly had special ammunition. He pockets it again.

"I didn't."

[classdismissed]

Griffin nods. "Yep. All kinds of nasty things and all of them with different weak spots. Some of them you wouldn't expect." He only knows this through a long process of trial and error. He looks around. The coast is clear, but that's likely to change at any given moment. "Why are you even out? If they don't get you," he nods his head back towards the alley where the dead beast lies, "Then you're likely to just keel over of a heart attack."

[circusmaster]

Smiley raises a brow at the last remark. Rather cheeky, considering the situation. Still, he doesn't rise to the provocation.

"My train was running late. Ten minute delay stranded me."

[classdismissed]

"Huh. That's a real bad time to get delayed." He still isn't really focusing on the man directly. Griffin is vaguely reminiscent of a dog, the way he's tensed and has his head cocked, listening for sounds of danger. "Look, you need to get out of here. They're gonna be coming any second. Do you live near by?"

[circusmaster]

Smiley can't help but feel that Griffin is stating the obvious with that remark, but keeps his comments to himself once more as he turns to see more creatures emerging from a farther alley.

"The Tower Apartments."

He doesn't move, however, only observes the young man clearly in his element. They'd spoken on the Network, not that Griffin knows, and just as Smiley had surmised from that conversation, he held a spark to him that he found was common among Guillam's band of Scalphunters. On edge, but not too much so that he loses his alertness, and rough around the edges from clear experience.

"If sound attracts them, I don't think running will be a help."

[classdismissed]

Griffin looks over his shoulder to see the Darkness monsters coming their way. He did come out for a fight and now he's got one. He turns his back on the old man, already calculating a plan of attack. "Then stay light on your feet. You'd be better walking quickly anyway, they like the chase. I've got this." He goes to Jump away, bat already coming up for a swing.

Only he doesn't move from the spot.

He tries again to the same result. His mouth falls open in disbelief. Very quickly, he realizes that the feeling is familiar. It's like coming up against a wall. He's being blocked. Griffin is only familiar with this feeling because of the Voids that come with AGI and SERO. Like a flash, Griffin rounds on the old man. He grabs the arm Smiley used to fire his gun before and forces him against the wall. Griffin pins his other arm against the man's throat. "Who are you? Which one of 'em sent you this time, huh?"

[circusmaster]

Smiley is busy concentrating on the creatures, so Griffin's sudden manhandling catches him by surprise. It's confusing, to say the least; he has no idea that the Core has made him a Void, so the questions make even less sense. It's almost nostalgic. He hasn't heard demands like this since he was in more active duty. At least this proves him right about one thing. Griffin is every bit as paranoid as one of the scalphunters.

He keeps his mind clear, though Griffin's arm forces a hacking cough from him. There had to be a quick way to reassure him that there was nothing threatening here besides the monsters. He thinks back to their brief conversation on the NV, and then he speaks softly in rather rusty Russian.

"If I told you my name was not Vladimir, would I be more trustworthy?"

[classdismissed]

Griffin's head cocks to the side. "George." Anyone could have read the conversation, but not many could have pulled off the Russian. Plus he fits the profile Griffin would expect of a man old enough to have lived through the Cold War. After a quick moment's consideration, he goes with his gut feeling and releases the man. "You're gonna make no friends with a power like that." He bends down and scoops up his bat. The monsters are coming up close. "Okay, George. Here's how it's gonna work. I can still take 'em, but it's gonna be harder. Your getaway isn't gonna be clean. Run or help me."

With that, Griffin hustles into the fray. They've attracted a small cluster of mutations plus one big boy. He's grateful that he's brushed up on the guide recently. With one zealous swing, he bowls over three of them. Griffin dodges and hits, spins and punches. The bat has become an impaling device. Unfortunately, he can't do anything with the big boy, not the way he's currently armed.

[circusmaster]

Smiley's brow furrows in confusion. Power? So far his only power displayed here was his ability to remember his crash courses in Russian given during training. Now's clearly not the time to ask, however. After another cough to straighten out his windpipe, Smiley reaches into his pocket again.

The larger beast would be a problem that his gun can't solve. Instead, he pulls out a lighter he'd purchased earlier that day. They were remarkably cheap now. The novelty comes in handy as he snaps it in half and throws it at the monster, managing to get some fuel on its legs. Then he takes his gun out again and fires. The flare soon reflects wildly against his glasses.

[classdismissed]

Griffin is having an easy enough time with the Mutations. It's kind of like Whack-a-Mole only he has to be mindful of the pus. Plus he has to duck the powerful arms of the big guy. he'll attempt a hit or two but he's going to need something much stronger than his bat.

George comes through in spades. Griffin is surprised to find that he's still there, figuring he'd take the running option. He grins at the man's cleverness. Griffin bolts away so he avoids getting burned. The large monster flails about, letting out a guttural sound of agony. The lone remaining Mutation has caught on fire as well, its shriek much more piercing. He claps George on the shoulder. "Nice one. Now we need to go." Between the flames and the sounds, it won't be long until there's a swarm of nasties surrounding them. The man just helped him out of a jam, the least Griffin can do is see to it that he gets to the Apartments unscathed.

[circusmaster]

Griffin's hand on Smiley's shoulder jolts his glasses from his nose, so he gives up on keeping them on and slips them into his pocket with his gun. Fortunately, his swimming exercises make running simple enough, and he keeps on Griffin's tail, if only for the reason of finding out what power he'd been talking about.

[classdismissed]

It surprises Griffin when George doesn't fall behind immediately. He's more fit than he looks. Griffin makes a note of this to himself and stores it away, so he can jot it down when he gets home. The older man's impression through the network had been fleeting at best, but this is something Griffin'll remember. Finding out that he's a Void only makes him more interesting.

For his part, Griffin makes sure he's at least a little ahead of George. He fends off the straggling mutations easily. At one point he manages to strike one so hard that it goes flying across the street. "And it's outta here," he says to himself.