Earths Pawns (reboot)

The bells had stopped ringing some minutes ago, the ringing of gunfire having been drowned out amongst them with little more than the squawking of spooked birds to signal that anything notable had happened. The rain had seemed to lessen in the last few minutes but this was little more than a brief respite as a loud clap of thunder roared through the heavens, leaving lightning to tear across the ocean of clouds in violent thrashes of forking white sparks - the rain now falling more fierce than before.

A crunching smash sounded out above, the clapping of broken tiles heralding the incoming figure as it leapt into sight from above and plummeted downward with frightening force upon the lone figure, her movements having been pulled into a tight stop, turning quickly into a recoil as the heavy form fell forcibly unto her body, pushing her down and trapping her against the floor. Her hood gave it's telltale flicker of motion against it's material roof, a glitter of gold shining from within as the dark shadows fell to reveal a pale human face crowded by silken black hair and piercing gold eyes. There wasn't a particular struggle from her side, the impact having easily winded her, pinning her with nothing more than the weight of the fall.

Her senses returned perhaps too slowly as the girl's piercing gaze shot up the figure above her, gazing into hungry murderous eyes for as long as they were visible. This was an unexpected issue.

Profile Reference: https://justanimeforum.net/threads/earths-pawns-reboot.12692/page-2#post-140381

 

He stared into the beast girl's eyes as he straddled her form. His axe was raised above his head, rain washing away the blood from his earlier kill as if in anticipation for the one to come.
He realised he hadn't moved for the kill yet. He was hesitating. Why? It was a beast. He saw it as his duty to hunt them down and kill them with neither remorse nor a second thought. She should be pretty bloody smear on the ground right now. So why wasn't she already dead?
He continued to look into the girl's eyes. Beasts usually thrashed out in the position, either from terror or an attempt to take the hunter with him. The girl just stared back at him.
His vision blurred for briefest moment. It was then he noticed that he was growling like a maddened beast himself. Feral and angry. He reached into his coat and withdrew a small pill bottle, before popping the lid and pouring a few of the sedatives into his mouth.
His anger began to subside, his heart rate dropping. Alstair look down at the girl once more.
"What...are..you?" he said, his voice was hoarse and guttural, making his question sound more like a demand than anything else.

 

The exchanging of stares offered enough time for the girl to recover her senses, her expression contorted into that of thought, something that relaxed ever so slightly as her attacker made quick motions to draw out that pill bottle and seemingly wolf down it's contents. She pulled a faint face, her body shuddered as the chilly wind blew over her now exposed face. Her dark hood had fall as far as it could, caught on the twin fluffy protrusions of her head - a pair of tall vulpine ears. There as a brief moment of nothing before a sudden metallic ringing crashed through the vicious pattering of rain.

Metal chains swung forward from above her head, attempting to strike at the attacker's chest then swing up at his neck. This seeming offence was simply a distraction though, the girl was lithe, dexterous and - importantly - wet. Her slicken cloak finding minimal friction as her feet locked into the crevices of the brick road, aided by the sudden swing of those chains to aid in freeing her form. She needed only a little lift and it was not hard to get once her form twisted and tail freed itself from propping her up - the lithe body slipping free and kicking out till she could finally scramble free and onto her feet, skidding about as those chains split and crossed each other in an attempt to wrap about the offending party's arms. She drew back and looked towards her assailant with a brief glitter of golden pools before turning about on her heels and dashing forward, attempting to run down the hill which she had only so recently climbed, rain now lashing against her face like sharp stinging needles, turning her pale complexion quickly red.

Profile Reference: https://justanimeforum.net/threads/earths-pawns-reboot.12692/page-2#post-140381

 

Brad clicked his tongue and replied as he turned to make his way up the stairs.
"You got it, Ella. Just be careful with that guy, alright?"
However, after finally noticing that he was a complete mess after the night's events, he decided to make a quick stop in the bathroom first.

When got inside and looked in the mirror, he had to resist the urge to apply more hair gel to his messed-up hair.
"Nah...not worth it. I'm just gonna be going to sleep anyway."
He brushed it up as well as he could and with a shrug, he left feeling only somewhat satisfied with the result. After that, he quickly wiped himself down with a towel, choosing to wait for a proper shower until after he visited Zoe. To him, Zoe is even more important than hair gel (which is high praise indeed) and he wanted to make sure he saw her as soon as possible so she wouldn't be worried about him.

When he reached her room, he carefully open the door and stepped inside, keeping his voice and his footsteps as quiet as possible.
"Zoe?"
He stepped inside and soon saw Zoe sleeping peacefully, which brought a warm smile to his face. He walked up to her bed and, as instructed, gently kissed her on the forehead before sitting down on a nearby chair. He spoke in a whisper so he wouldn't wake her, more or less thinking out loud but he could probably still be heard if by some chance Zoe was still awake.
"Well, it looks like we've got a new guest at the house. Heh heh, your mom's got a real knack for taking in strays, you know that?"
He leaned back with his hands behind his head, smiling as he fondly remembered days gone by.
"I still remember the first time we met. I didn't really have anywhere to go or anything to do, I was just kinda wandering around. I could take care of myself alright but that was about all I could do. Then I ran into your mom one day. She told me her story, about how she's helping out all these people who can't help themselves, like she's some kind of hero or something. I thought, "man...that's amazing." Then I started thinking about how cool it would be if I were somebody like that. You know, someone who helps people, the kind of person that everyone looks up to. So I figured I'd follow her around for a while and see what happened."
He chuckled softly.
"The rest is pretty much history. If I didn't meet her that day, I probably would've ended up becoming a mercenary, the kind of guy who only looks after himself. Man, I'm glad I didn't turn out that way. I owe your mom a lot, you know. And I'm sure you'll turn out to be just as awesome as she is."
After that, he (very slowly) got up out of his chair, left the room and closed the door while hardly making a sound. Then he finally got that shower he was waiting for, cleaned himself up nicely and went to bed for the night.

 

Adolph and Beatrice ran into a nearby abandoned house to take shelter from the rain that came down with little warning. After getting in, Adolph commenced to starting a fire with the logs that were left behind while Beatrice shivered and whimpered in misery
"That was unexpected. The conditions were right, but even then I did not expect the rain to come down so quickly."
"So cold..."
"Try to warm up here."
"Aren't you cold?"
"Not really. The coat keeps me dry."
"Then can we share it?"
"Ha. No. You should get out of those cl-"
There was sound of wet clothing dropping to the ground. Adolph, still kneeling in front of the fireplace supervising the flames, halted his breathing for a moment before letting out an annoyed sigh, covering his embarrassment.
"Done!"
"I commend you on being proactive, but give some warning before doing that. I'll look away while you change into something dry."
"I don't have any other clothes."
"...That's a problem."
Adolph had forgotten momentarily from the suddenness of the awkwardness that, as travelers, they could not carry unnecessary amounts of supplies, like extra clothes.
He heard a her barefoot footsteps come to the fireplace next to him, and clothes being rung out and hung on the drying rack. He made sure to turn away, so as not to confirm how undressed she was. Taking off his coat, he handed it to her.
"We can't share this at the same time, but I'll share it with you right now. I'm going to head out and see what I can learn about the place and get some food if I can."
Beatrice wrapped the coat around herself, thankful for the warmth, and looked questionly at him.
"But shouldn't you be using this coat? You are the one heading back off into the rain."
"I've been through worse with less."
"Then will you be gone long?"
"I don't plan on being gone any longer than half an hour. I'll leave my gun here."
"No, keep it. It is too heavy for me to use anyway."
"I see then."
Adolph turned to leave, averting his gaze from her so as not to confirm how undressed or covered up she was.
"Be careful, Adolf."
Adolph stopped at the door, hand stopping on the knob.
"I will, Beatrice, I will."

Adolph stepped out, feeling more comfortable not sharing the same room as an undressed woman. He honestly had no idea why she could get so overly comfortable with a teenager. A mercenary one at that. He took a deep breath and stepped out into the rain and darkness.
He hoped there would be people around, but everyone was indoors due to the rain, and it was unlikely anyone would answer the door to a newcomer.
I did not quite think this through all the way.
For some reason, he felt he could not disappoint Beatrice by coming back empty handed. He decided he should keep on looking. When he passed by an alley, he heard the voice of a woman.
"Come here, young one."
Smooth and seductively soothing, no man (or possibly no woman also) could ignore the voice. Adolph turned his head, to see a woman standing under the overhang of the roof, out of the rain. She was wearing a cloak, covering all of her, except for her beautiful face and abundant cleavage. However, he was not so foolish as to be lured by this attractive woman. Who knows what weapon she had stored in that cloak.
"How about you come here."
The eyes of her slightly smiling face narrowed slightly.
"No, come, now."
For an unknown reason, he felt his body compelled to move towards her, like he was dazed, as if he was forced to trust her.
He unwillingly walked to her, until he stood under the overhang with her, only a few inches away from her.
"Come closer."
"Nope. Not happening."
"..."
The woman seemed to get tired of making him come closer.
This boy has much more will than I expected. Looks like I won't be able to have the fun I wanted without going overboard.
"I have something for you that will help you, if you are interested."
"... Show me."
She pulled out a small box, and opened it to reveal five brass canisters.
"It is called Pashion."
"Pashion? Sounds like 'passion'. "
"Yes, Pashion. It will grant you, for a time, increased strength and speed. And the side effects are not serious."
"Define 'serious'. "
"You won't die or hurt, just feel a little odd during it's use."
"... I can put up with 'odd' drug for the benefits."
The woman laughed.
"Good. And the price will be one thing."
"What will it be?"
Her expression turned serious.
"A promise to me that you will protect that young woman that travels with you. Will you promise?"
Adolph cocked his head inquisitively. He did not know how this woman knew that, but he decided to try bluffing as an attempt to mislead her. He did not feel safe disclosing info on Beatrice.
"What young woman? I met one in the last town, but ditched her in the morning."
You aren't fooling me, but I am glad you are trying to protect her now, even like this.
"I see. I guess I was mistaken then."
She pressed the box into his hands.
"Whether or not you say it, I already know you have secretly promised. Please, keep this, Adolf. Protect Beatrice."
Adolph's eyes widened in surprise, at how she both knew his name and Beatrice's name. In the next instant, his vision blurred and he was alone. For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating, but now he was wearing a cloak, the one the mysterious woman was wearing, and holding a box too.
Then he felt slightly annoyed. And warmer.
"... I think she said my name wrong, too, like Beatrice would."

He got no results in the immediate area of the town, so he decided to head to a place he was reluctant of going to.
At the very least, I will stop here to see what the situation is. This is the way that one woman went when she fired a shot by me earlier. She would probably know best at what was going on.
Adolph could now make out a house, barn and stable, barely.
If she was that good with a gun, I should look for cover.
He ran to the stable, under the shelter of the roof. The horse inside seemed to ignore him.
Now I just need to gather what I need to say.
Adolph knelt down , catching his breath and trying to think of the right thing to say.

 

As the girl slipped out from under her, and the chains manifested around him, his body moved almost on autopilot. He ducked the chains before they could wrapped around him, and then launched himself into the sprint after her. Beast or not, he needed answers, and wasn't going to lose her now. In a straight run, he was clearly faster than the girl, and was gaining fast.

 

Old Man Nejat decided to call it a day and go home. He had seen enough nonsense that day. As he turned to leave, he noticed the newest conflict. He shrugged and walked off.

Death showed himself once again - not literally. Upon the sleep of everyone in Ella's house, he walked soundlessly to where the key was and picked it up, allowing his snakes to coil around it. He momentarily leaned over Ella, blowing an ice cold mist gently into her face. The temperature alone wouldn't cause a person to wake up but would most likely cause them to be uncomfortable; cold. He then moved to search through her drawers until he found what he was looking for - her underwear. Venenum searched through for the most revealing, skimpiest, handing it to his snakes. Swiftly he repeated the process but for the younger girl's underwear.

With that he left the room, heading towards the room wherein he sensed another person. Upon trying the door, he found that it opened and thus went in. Venenum smiled as he got closer to the sleeping man, slipping the keys gently into his hand as to hopefully not rouse him. Whilst he left the room, he shut the door behind him as soft as possible.

Next he tried a room and found a set of weapons within it. Taking it along with him, he tested various doors until he found one to be locked. Since he already dropped off the key, there would only be one possible way to open this door... He hauled Day's End from his back, taking a step back and ramming the blade of the war axe directly into where the lock once was...

Other than simply taking the lock with it, the entire door shattered, the axe's signature blurred flash of gold following with it. The sound of the door breaking, and the proceeding rubble was quickly absorbed by the axe, making sure no one would stir. He quickly put back the axe, walking into the room and laying out the weapons on the floor. As a final task, Venenum walked up to the sleeping man - Axel - and dropped the younger child's underwear under the blanket near his crotch. He slipped the elder lady's into the sleeping man's pocket whilst making sure half of it stuck out and spoke directly directly above his face, the same ice mist flowing out of his mouth, "WAKE UP!" And with that, he vanished.

Oh nightmare, dabadee dabadum! Stay away from me at night! Let me rest! Lleh shook her head. She was getting sick of all these prayers. She sniffed her surroundings, she could hear the call of Venenum - a call she knew she had to answer - she owed him. She ran straight into a wall of her cave, leaping out on the other side directly onto where Ella would be yet instead of slamming into her, went through her and travelled up her body, straight to her head. And there she roamed her dreams. A dream that quickly darkened; clouds rushed in and darkened everything, thunder shook the ground. Each bolt that connected with the ground caused it to crack, the molten Earth beneath the crust quickly rushed out, surrounding the Ella whom had once happily been in her dream. The molten rocks raised upwards, splitting in half to form the beast version of Lleh, running straight towards Ella. And with that, she woke up.

 

It is up to you to guard her properly. I put much faith into you.
The Deity of Lust left the town, hoping that Adolph would uphold his promise.

Adolph had himself gathered mentally for what he wanted to ask when he would get to the door. However, he knew he had to be cautious also. No telling what may happen. He took out his decoy gun, slipped a tracer round into it, and planted it into the ground.
Sorry horse. You might not like this if becomes a catastrophic failure.
He arranged the gun to aim towards the house, but without allowing the shot to hit the house. He linked a string to the trigger, and began to walk towards the house, trailing a spool of the trigger string, ready to launch a shot just in case.

Beatrice was getting impatient and worried. Thirty minutes had almost passed, but Adolph had a tendency to come back early.
Maybe I flustered him by undressing too early. He went out without proper clothing, and he was too prideful to take it back, especially from a naked lady. He's probably freezing in some alley!
She jumped up, wrapping the coat around her bare body. She slipped on her nearly dried shoes, and ran out the door.

 

Terios waited for a few moments, but no reply came from the woman in front of him. He soon gave up his line of questioning and stood to his feet.
"I understand if it's something you'd rather not discuss. In that case, I should really be going. I have business to attend to at the local library."
He made his way to the front door, stopping suddenly when he felt some sort of presence nearby. It didn't seem like a person or an animal, it just seemed to be...there. His face started to show some concern when he couldn't figure out what, exactly, it was. He carefully scanned the room for anyone or anything that might be around.
"What is that...?"
He whispered to himself as he kept his hands on his weapons.

 

Zillis walked to ellas room and gently opened the door. He noticed that she was asleep but none the less he went into her room and attempted to wake her up. He shook her for a few moments and then spoke out. "I'm heading out. I should be back by the morning."

Scurrying for a piece of paper and a pen he found both and left a note on her door letting her know he might not walk through the door till the morning breakfast. Zillis was dressed lightly. He only wore a long sleeve Henley and slacks, his typical house attire. He also wore boots for going out in any weather that wasn't sunny. He enjoyed the rain as it had a cooling and soothing effect for him. Once prepared he went down the stairs and opened the front door.

Upon closing the door he took in his surroundings. The rain had created beautiful reflections and speckles from the moonlight and the mud was disgustingly pleasant to step in. He looked towards the stables however and saw a man trying to walk up close to the house. Zillis understood people could walk close to the house but not on the property. He gave him a warning.

"If you value your life. Step away from this home. If you wish to talk we Can step off this property. Otherwise I will be forced to defend." He left it short and simple. Though he expected them to follow his demnds he already armored his body in preparation for a fight.

 

"I am here to find out what happened earlier, in the streets."
Adolph stopped walking, neither advancing nor retreating. He raised his hands into the air as a sign to show he was not hostile and not holding any weapons.
"I came to speak to the woman that fired the shot. She would likely know most about the situation. Allow me to speak to her."
His hand gave a dexterous twirl, tightening the slackened thread, ready to pull off a shot if needed.
"I have no intention of going back without an answer from her. So allow me to compete my objective."

Beatrice ran through the cold rain, her feet freezing from splashing through the puddles.
Where would he go? We don't even know this town. He could be lost somewhere.
Desperately, she searched the town for Adolph.
He would have only stayed in the main part of town, and he's not here.
She changed her course and headed towards the far end of town, where there were less houses.
I think he went this direction. That is the only part of the town left to search.

 

Old Man Nejat had been crossing by Ella's house - the route he usually takes to get home since his was a bit further than the outskirts of town. He happened to notice the two people speaking at decided to investigate. He also noticed the gun. Quickly inspecting the contraption, he undid the thread thus leaving the gun useless. Just to be sure, he raised the barrel to the sky. Now satisfied, he walked towards the two people, yawning ever so slightly, "What're you gentlemen doing out at this time?"

Lleh growled as she stalked Ella from the darkness. Upon seeing her go back to sleep, she repeated her process of entering her mind once again. This time she would be more cruel. She sped through Ella's dreams, bringing them both to a hospital room. Specifically the maternity ward. Ella lay on a bed, her legs spread as a doctor delivered the baby girl. Time seemed to shift again, now years ahead to a scene where Ella's child and Zoe were playing. Zoe seemed to get angry at something the child said and struck her again and again... and again. Each time she did, the child begged for her to stop until she no longer could. Eventually all that was left of the child was a bleeding pulp. Zoe had no other option but to get rid of the body and that was easily done by ditching it off a cliff. The scene flashed forwards once again, and the execution of everyone Ella ever loved took place within moments, each of the people looking at her in distress and anger and most importantly: hate.

 

"Perhaps you didn't hear me I said get off the property and we can talk. The women you're speaking of is not taking guests right now. You can either talk to me or get off of our property."

Zillis turned the entirety of his body towards Adolph. He stared towards him with cold dead eyes by this point both of them were drenched from the rain. And a downpour had just started. Looking at the peculiar position that Adolphs finger was in he decided to test his luck.

He stepped off from the pathway and onto the grass. The squishing noise echoed from under his boot, and the saturation expelled in every direction leaving an imprint each step he would take. He stopped at a distance close enough to cause discomfort to Adolph but not to close for anything else.

"Well, are you going to come back in the morning or are we gonna settle this the old fashioned way?" he strictly was glaring towards his finger which could be a mistake but he will figure out soon enough what is going on.

The only thing either of them heard once their words stopped was the intense trickles of rain hitting the earth, house, and their bodies.

 

The string went limp.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Adolph tried tightening to get rid of the slack, but much to his disappointment, it didn't tighten. With a sigh, Adolph popped his neck and flexed his left hand.
"Well, time's wasting. Seems we will have to do this the old way."
Maybe the string just has a little more slack than expected. I'll give it one last try.
"But it will be even faster doing it my way!"
With that thought, Adolph gave the string one more yank.
Nothing.
Just an embarrassing yank. No gunshot.
"...Well, this did not turn out as planned. Plan B!"
Adolph let go of the string and jumped back, slinging his long gun into a firing position. By the time his feet touched down from his brief jump, his gun was aiming at Zillis. He pulled off a shot, intent on sending it to the shoulder of the man in his way.

Beatrice heard a gunshot. For a moment, fear struck her.
Was that Adolf? Was he the one shooting... or being shot at?
She ran towards the sound of the gunshot, hoping for the best, as the rain poured down harder.

 

The girl ran with all the speed she could muster, her spry form easily lending to that before making a quick turn and making fast track around a nearby corner, her cloak grazing gently at the old stone bricks in it's dishevelled state. She turned again, dashing into an empty door frame, quickly following through another and then leaping quickly over a crumbling staircase - landing part way up it and closing what was left on foot, making it to the second floor, turning fast and through a broken window, her cloak catching and tearing at it's corner along the shattered glass. Within the next moment she was on the rooftops, scrambling over tiles and along before leaping forward and into the exposed window of a particularly tall building. Within the inky darkness inside, she seemed to all but disappear.

Profile Reference: https://justanimeforum.net/threads/earths-pawns-reboot.12692/page-2#post-140381

 

OOT: Continuity errors! Needed to make a few slight adjustments to the post.

Brad was sleeping peacefully, snoring loudly as he usually did, until he started hearing various noises coming from both inside and outside the house. He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and mumbling to himself.
"Huh? What's going on? Tryin' to sleep here."
He noticed a set of keys in his hand as he woke up and looked at them curiously.
"How did this get here? Was I sleepwalking? That's weird, I've never done that before. Maybe Ella or Zillis gave them to me...oh man, I hope I'm not forgetting something important. I guess I'll just keep them on me for now."
Just then, a gunshot rang out, making him jump a little.
"That can't be good!"
He sprang up out of bed, got himself dressed, put the keys in his pocket, tied a pistol in its holster around his waist and grabbed his double-barreled shotgun before quickly making his way downstairs. He saw Zillis at the front door and called out to him.
"Watch out, coming through!"
He stood in the doorway next to him with his gun at the ready and saw two figures standing outside, a young man who looked to be around his age and an older gentleman. He called out to the one who was currently holding a weapon.
"Alright, hold up! Before this gets any crazier, I want you to level with me."
He quickly looked to Zillis, then back to the stranger.
"Did he try to shoot you just now? Because he does that sometimes. He's not a real "people person," know what I'm saying?"
He turned back to Zillis, still pointing his gun at the young man.
"Come on, bro. Did you say something to get him all angry?"
Then he turned back to the other guy.
"Look man, if you put your weapon down, we'll put ours down and we can talk about this without the violence."
He gave one last look to Zillis, gritting his teeth.
"Isn't that right? 'Cause I'm pretty sure Ella wouldn't be happy if we shot some poor guy on the front porch."
He gave an exaggerated grin, hoping that would help defuse the situation.

 

Old Man Nejat walked towards the man which just shot, gripping his cane tighter as he thrust it upwards towards Adolph's non-prevalent elbow. Considering he was holding a large weapon, the non-prevalent elbow would be steadying the barrel. The only way for Adolph to avoid getting hit would be to move very fast, or to let go with one hand, thus disarming him. Otherwise, the extreme force would most likely snap the elbow and cause his aim to go astray.

Lleh chuckled to herself, watching Ella from the darkness of her room. She quickly left, returning with a stool and planted it directly at the base of Ella's bed. Before taking a seat, she made sure to remove the ammunition from any nearby weapon. Now in her humane form, she took a perch on the stool, watching Ella. She began to loudly weep, blood trickling from her eyes. Lleh raised her palms to her face, hiding away. Her weeping got louder until it finally stopped.

She continued crying until slightly after Ella woke up, suddenly stopping. She raised her head and moved her hands so that she could look Ella directly in the eyes. The blood continued to flow, staining her white dress with crimson red. She then began to sing, "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think. Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink. The years go by, as quickly as a wink. Enjoy yourself," she started to sing slower, her voice coming down from it's usual high pitch, "enjoy yourself, " she started to emphasis each word, singing slower whilst extending each syllable for as long as she can hold on to it, "it's later than you, " her voice cracked, breaking into multiple tones and semi-tones ranging from a deep bass to a high soprano, the volume of her voice also flaring suddenly, "THINK!" She jumped from her seat, launching herself towards Ella's face, changing into her beast form midway with claws outstretched and ready for the kill... and then she vanished.

 

Zillis already had his mind made up. There wasn't anything brad could say to convince him to do anything else. Lunging forward he headbutted brad and pushed him to the side of him. Thankfully for brad he had a strong nose so it was only bleeding and no breakage happened.

Stomping his foot on the ground in a second instant launched the earth under old man nejat to move over to the side. He immediately sent the wall down and ran towards Adolph upon reaching him the already moved gun he grabbed a hold of it after it shot and spun around quickly hitting Adolphs face with it. And throwing the gun down after the attack.

Zillis grabbed a hold of Adolphs shirt and threw him backwards to get him off the property and avoid any serious damage to the estate. He never broke his stride and continued running after him. Slamming his foot down in stride he threw up a wall to prevent anyone from getting closer to him.

"Stay out of this Brad!" was the last thing he heard before they got out of earshot of them.