(( Of Poison and Power [A Private 1x1] ))

[magefeathers]

т є є м σ

► Ⓣhe ѕwift ѕcout ◄

◆◆◇ This world will never bexx
What I expected.xxxxxx
And if I don't belongxxxx
Who would have guessed it?
I will not leave alonexxxx
Everything that I ownxxxx
To make you feel like it's not too late,
It's never too late. ◇◆◆ xx

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Of course Veigar wasn't going to admit the Badger was right, but Teemo knew. Come on, Veigar himself was shrieking and groaning about just how awful they both smelled. No way he could go back on it and say that he didn't mean it like that. The Mage was just being a stubborn a*****e and Teemo knew it, and yet he kept it to himself. He didn't need to be told 'you're right' to know he was right, and so kept mostly quiet with that smug little smile on his face. Of course, the temper tantrum throwing Mage had to continue to gripe, only earning another eyeroll and smart comment from Teemo, the two of them launching into another mini-argument, bickering and pecking at each other like an old married couple. As much as they griped about one another, got annoyed or irritated, they really were inseperable. Neither one could imagine their life without the other, even if Veigar did want to begin putting distance between them once again. Hard as he'd try though, Teemo would come crawling back, bothering and pestering him, trying to find excuses to spend time with him, to be close with him. And Veigar, in turn, would most likely find excuses to get close to Teemo. He wouldn't do it happily or even realize he was doing it, but they would wind up in the same rut they found themselves in in the beginning and no doubt wander down the exact same path. Like two magnets seperated, then reunited, they would click back together in an instant, holding onto one another stronger than before.

Even before Veigar began to holler, Teemo was already gathering tinder for the fire, not wanting to waste a moment in getting everything going. His tentacles helped in carrying a couple bundles of small branches, the former Scout holding a nice handful of dried grass for tinder. “Hurry up and make the fire!” Veigar yelled, Teemo shaking his head a bit. You couldn't rush making a campfire, otherwise you'd wind up with cold embers in the bottom and have to start all over again. However, the Scout held his tongue and set the bundles of branches down, then turned the charred logs unburned side inward. He began to pack the branches and tinder, the Mage getting right close to him and giving a rather loud yell. "I said HURRY UP!"

"Hush! I'm getting it going as fast as I can!" Teemo snapped back, even his boundless patience starting to wear somewhat thin. However, he took a breath and sighed, deciding to try explaining his pace to the Mage. It was all about communication, trying to lead by example how effective communication worked. Maybe one of these days, Veigar would get the hang of it. You let people around you know what was going on, why you were doing things the way you were so there was no misunderstanding. "You can't rush it. Otherwise you'll get all flame and no ember, and then your campfire goes out in twenty minutes."

The Mage gave a groan and rolled his eyes. Egh, could Teemo reek any more of 'boy scout'? Still, it was that thorough, get it done right the first time approach that helped him and save him so many times in the past. It just wasn't the best approach for everyone, especially someone impatient and jumpy as Veigar. Once again, Teemo stacked up the logs and made sure the tinder and branches were stuffed properly. He found a book of matches Tristana brought and got close to the firepit, struck the match and caught the tinder aflame, gently blowing on it to help it grow, to catch more of the tinder, then the branches, the baby campfire beginning to lap at the dry pieces of dry firewood. Before they knew it, there was a fire roaring in the pit, warming up and illuminating the entire cave. Teemo smiled a bit and went outside, going to get a couple more logs to continue to feed the flame, stretching and sighing a bit.

"You're looking dryer already." Teemo said with a small nod, looking over the cave. It seemed to lived in now, full of personal affects and work supplies, the two of them even keeping a pet here! Teemo took a few moments to gather up the soiled blankets from earlier and put them outside, making a mental note to wash them off in the morning. Other than that, things looked pretty good, the former Scout making sure to keep at the empty wrappers and cans from the food he ate earlier in a burlap sack with the rest of his trash items. Teemo took his clean blanket from next to Fenrir and brought it back around onto his side, setting up a little sleeping area once again. "Well, I'm going to go to sleep. You need anything else before I get settled?"

"Yeah, for you to shut up!" Veigar said, apparently still upset with Teemo for the bath. Maker, Veigar nearly killed him with a careless mistake by turning him into a giant mutant bee-dger and the Scout didn't give him nearly as much s**t as Veigar was for trying to help him. Then again, they were two completely different people, almost two opposites that somehow just worked together. Teemo drew a zipper across his mouth and found his bottle of Noxian Nectar, drinking straight from that as opposed to finding his trusty flask. Within moments, Teemo's lids were drooping and he was struggling to get the top back on the bottle, groggily crawling back to his 'bed' and tucking himself in. What an exhausting couple of days it had been, but luckily for Veigar, the Scout wouldn't have problems with night terrors tonight. The deep sleep brought on by the alcohol and the large amount of warmth stuffed inside his barrels was enough to keep the nightmares at bay, but that didn't mean his sleep would be uneventful. Now that their host was sleeping, the Blight was kicking its growth into overdrive, something that Veigar might notice. Especially when the tentacles seemed so scrawny and thin before, they quickly thickened and stretched out over the course of Teemo's rest, the Blight reacting a bit more angrily if it was poked or prodded. Even though this Magically Inclined thing was on its host's 'do not kill' list, that didn't mean the Blight wouldn't try zapping him, especially if he tried making a move at kicking Teemo while he was out of commission. But, the Scout wasn't aware of any of that going on, nor the uproar that his absence was causing in Bandle City. Sleep and rest, that's what mattered right now. Everything else he would simply deal with in the morning.

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OOC: Boop.
I feel: Comforted, content. Warm and happy.
I hear: Frontier Village Dali

◆◆◇ Even if I say
xxxIt'll be alright,
xxStill I hear you say
You want to end your life.
xNow and again we try
xxTo just stay alive
Maybe we'll turn it all around.
'Cause it's not too late,
It's never too late. ◇◆◆

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

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There was no point in her sitting around in an empty cave. Once again the mage had whisked away her badger buddy and there was nothing she could do about it. As she headed on back to Bandle she decided that the next time Veigar wanted to take Teemo somewhere to get a plant she would try a bit harder to get herself invited. It was pretty obvious though that Veigar didn't want her coming along with them during their trips and to an extent.. it felt the same way for Teemo too. It was like having your mom come along to your school field trip, sucking the fun out of everything and placing a sort of wedge between you and your friends. Tristana was trying to be the best wedge that she could be. Because of Veigar both she and Teemo have gotten into quite a few arguments over these past couple months. That mage was nothing but trouble. Not only was he brainwashing him but he was toying with him, changing him into things like vampires and covering him in noses. That wasn't funny! That was.. that was terrible! Yet Teemo just laughed it off and defended the mage. The whole thing was such a mess, really, it was. Somewhere along the line she had made it her life's mission to separate those two as she was completely convinced that Veigar was taking advantage of the badger. There really was no other reason as to why the mage would take so much interest in the guy. He was making a mockery of the Hero of Bandle City by making him into his personal plaything. The mage had even said so himself! Just what was Teemo not getting!?

☩ ☩ She returned home feeling emotionally exhausted. Going to see Teemo was no longer as uplifting as they used to be. Sure she sometimes got to spend some one on one time with him but the mage was always skulking around nearby. It was both off-putting and nerve-wracking. The thought of Veigar infuriated her. She wanted nothing more then to just punch him in the face until he was just a pile of mush but she couldn't do that which pissed her off even more. Her grip on her emotions was starting to loosen. Tristana was becoming more daring with her actions, putting her life on the line as she tried to exact some sort of vengeance upon the mage. For her friends, for her people! But she just couldn't get it. Just as the badger said no matter how vulnerable the mage looked his magic was always on standby to keep him safe. There just had to be a way to intercept the magic, but how? What could they possibly do to flick it off even for just a moment? Teemo had gone all the way to Zaun and went through hell to fetch those Silence darts from Singed, why couldn't those do the trick? Tristana was going to undoubtedly pester Teemo, trying to find out more of the mage's weaknesses. She already knew how to make him unstable, though she didn't know why removing his hat made him freak out. Trist wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon though, she could have died! No no no, had to do something about that pesky magic first. But what?

☩ ☩ While Teemo was having fun picking up plants with Veigar -- the thought ticking Tristana off even further -- she busied herself with studies. Her Vampire theory had been completely discarded by Teemo as Veigar fed him some very convenient excuses for the results of their tests. He picked up sunflower seeds because.. they had gotten in his potions! His hand smoked because.. he had knocked over a potion! Teemo turned into a Vampire because.. of a potion! The mage was such a terrible liar! But Teemo was convinced. Whatever, who cares what the guy is? Sure it was important to find out if she ever wanted to take him down but first things first she had to separate the badger from that vile creature. She just had to show him that Veigar truly didn't give a rat's a** about him! How hard could that be?! This was going to be mission impossible for her though. Teemo had clearly seen just how much Veigar cared about him. The proof was in the pudding. All the gunner could really do at this point was effect the mage. After Teemo accused him of being a Vampire and then tried to choke him to death -- something that the gunner didn't know about -- there was no way the badger was going to turn on him again. It was Tristana that was doing the brainwashing but now Teemo knew her tricks! Veigar on the other hand was already making plans to distance himself from the badger once this whole Blight thing was over with. Tristana could very well effect the time that they had left together though, send Veigar back to the Shadow Isles and make him work there while the gunner took his place in the cave. This time she would not fail!

☩ ☩ The gunner was really starting to seem out of place as the gloomy and exhausted girl walked down the streets of cheery Bandle City. People would turn and smile, about to wave only for their hands to lower and their smiles to fade once they saw just how distraught the gunner looked. Tristana absolutely hated this. Her friend was being fooled by that conniving b*****d. And Veigar.. Veigar was just laughing at them. Her fist tightened as she walked up the stairs and stopped at her apartment door. The thing preventing her from simply barging in was a small package before the door, a little something that has been sitting there for not too long. Another little present left by Rumble who knew that no one would steal it if he simply left it there, which it hadn't. She sighed, picking up the little bucket containing some unique canon balls and made her way inside. After that she just stayed in her apartment. Both her couch and her living room table were covered with newspapers and books all relating to Veigar in some way. Magic, space and alchemy books along with some newspaper clippings she had of the mage. The gunner was starting her own little Veigar-obsessed collection here just like Teemo had back when he was, you know, in his right mind. There just had to be something here that would give her a clue that could answer one of her many questions. She hadn't even changed or bothered to make any attempt at eating, only pausing once in awhile to use the bathroom. Other then that she remained on the couch, her hair a disheveled mess as she constantly rifled a hand through it.

☩ ☩ Then gunner sighed and threw herself back against the couch, covering her face with both of her hands. This was an absolute mess. She couldn't find anything! Just what sort of things did Teemo look into back when he was studying up on the mage? That gave her the idea to go and visit Teemo's room back at the Grey Mare. Surely his Veigar collection was still there. She could read his notes, see what the badger had found out through his research! It had been a day since she left the cave, the gunner figuring that the two arch-enemies were still out and about doing their thing. She planned on going back there tonight, her tired mind beginning to trail off from her research as she thought about what sort of things she should bring with her. More blankets of course, matches, snacks, the usual stuff. Perhaps some more puzzle stuff to keep Teemo not bored, but distracted from Veigar. Her hands slipped from her face as she narrowed her eyes, her determined gaze staring right up at the ceiling. She was going to up her game. If they were uncomfortable before, oh, wait until they saw what she had in store. She was going to be the most annoying - and probably the most obvious - wedge you've ever seen!

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@@ 「 Ｖｅｉｇａｒ, ｔｈｅ ｔｉｎｙ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ｏｆ Ｅｖｉｌ 」

☪ ☪ It's been a few hours since they returned from Zaun. The skies were no longer pitch black as the sun was slowly creeping it's way up into the sky. The cave was mostly quiet save for the crackling of the fire. Both Veigar and Fenrir, the two dwellers of the Shadow Isles, were the only ones up as Teemo had gone off to sleep. The mage growled, kinda annoyed. Why? Because he didn't have anything to do. His potions didn't need any poking or fiddling with. Typically he would just go out and have some fun with a village or, since he was so close, with Bandle City, but he wanted to get himself dry. This was painstaking for someone as impatient as himself. He picked up a spellbook, read a sentence and then tossed it away with a groan. Despite all their activities during the day he was full of energy and ready to go. He turned his head and looked outside of the cave. He wanted to go out. It hasn't even been ten minutes since the badger put himself down to sleep and yet Veigar was already dying from boredom. The worg approached, seating himself right beside his master and letting out a small whine to let Veigar know that he was there.

☪ ☪ Veigar turned back around and saw the blind-folded, three-legged worg sitting right next to him. Somehow Fenrir seemed to know that his master was looking at him, giving him the attention that they both in some way craved. Fenrir opened his mouth and started to pant, his tail wagging happily behind him. The sight earned a groan from the mage, damn happy mutt. Just what was his problem? He didn't even question why Fenrir insisted on tagging along with him. Fenrir had become a part of his life whether he liked it or not and so had the badger. They willingly took on his abuse just to spend time with him. It didn't make any sense to him, but the same could be said about him as well. "Veigar" and "sense" didn't exactly go hand in hand.

☪ ☪ “What do you want?” He asked crudely, but despite his tone Fenrir just kept panting and wagging his tail. The mage deepened his glare and growled, “Stop that. I said stop that!” All it took was Fenrir's happy tail wagging to get him ticked off, reaching outward and bonking him on the noggin. The happy tail wagging certainly stopped then, replaced with a whimper and a small frown. Veigar chuckled at this, in a better mood now that he had stomped on the worg's happiness. “Oh don't be such a baby!” he gave the worg a push, though not a very hard one. Instead of backing off though Fenrir moved forwards and gave the mage a little push back with his nose. A pushing war broke out between the two and then suddenly they were full-on wrestling with each other, rolling and biting at one another. Although Veigar was way more rough then Fenrir was the worg had developed a thicker skin, becoming a bit more tolerant to the pain that he dished out. They engaged in their play, though Veigar would refuse to call it such a thing. Both he and Fenrir were very close and they cared about each other very much. If only Veigar could just fess up to it but that just wasn't the kind of person he was even though to this day he regretted never telling Jezeb or Nazaim how much he cared for them or how he never accepted their title as "brother."

☪ ☪ This was an activity he used to occasionally engage in when he was younger. Not very much in his quiet and observant early years as he was heavily depressed back then but when he became the loud-mouthed trouble maker that was when he really got into wrestling with the other animals. He treated animals differently then the yordles however, when he fought with yordles he was vicious and cruel but when he was in the company of animals he was more gentle and playful. Sure he would mess with them but it was all in good fun. Sometimes they even managed to get him to crack a smile or release a chuckle.. but everything changed when the hunters killed his mole friend, Raffie, down in the sewers. Yet here Veigar was, not remembering a thing about it, perhaps a blessing in disguise. Both he and Fenrir continued to wrestle, getting just a bit out of hand as Veigar pushed the worg and sent him rolling. Fenrir ended up bumping pretty hard into the badger's body, neither of them aware of the growth spurt the Blight was currently undergoing. It probably wasn't going to take too kindly to the worg's rude interruption..


███████████████████████████████████████████████
x
COMPANY x ► x no one xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

For once in his life, Rumble was constantly and consistantly working on things for the good of Bandle City as a whole rather than focusing on his own ego and recognition. So much of it was thanks to Tristana's sacrifice, but also due to the guilt that was slowing growing, eating poor Rumble up from the inside out. The whole reason he had put Teemo into the position that he did was because he truly believed that he and Veigar were in cahoots, that if he simply kicked the Scout out of his position as the town 'Hero', the Mage would follow or at least allow for someone else to step up and really try to defeat him. Unfortunately, that person was not Rumble, his hextech spell shield included. It was a grim situation, and Rumble just didn't know what to do. Veigar's attacks were more random and sporadic than ever, sometimes they were heavy and devestating, other times they were quick and light. He just wanted to try and make things better, and in the end he just made the situation worse. In order to cope with these realizations, he did what he could to help and actually was feeling pretty damned good about it. Rather than hiding away in his junkyard, he was out an about doing things. He was going to school, helping with repair work on lines of security around the city, but most importantly, he was getting actual interaction with other yordles rather than just nuts and bolts. Sure, he still slipped up sometimes in his classes, and would raise a fist and holler at a classmate he didn't agree with, but someone would be kind enough to step in and play mediator, his temper greatly worn down by that touch. Of course, he would never admit such a thing, scoffing, sneering and shoving away the mediator with a grunt and a "Yeah, alright fine. Whatever." But it never became a full fledged fight, helping Rumble to once again deal with things in the way most yordles did, working his way back into the Hive, slowly but surely.

When he went home, he would work on scrounging up new parts and new plans on a better, improved Tristy. His time off from the League was helping him focus on his work and getting his life back together, still looking to his lofty goals of improving the respect humans and other races had for the dimunitive yordles and what they were capable of. With all this going on, you would think Rumble would have a better time being able to avoid Tristana, the guilt that went along in seeing how badly she was doing without her best friend, but he just couldn't. As much as she needed a helping hand now, she wouldn't take it whenever it was offered to her. Rumble would always keep a keen ear out, frequently ask if Tristana was back in town, just to make sure she got the warmth and company she needed, because no one else seemed brave enough to force it on her, no matter how much she needed it. In that way, he was still kind of like that annoying younger brother who wouldn't leave you alone no matter how much you told him to bug off, but now rather than corny pick-up lines and cheap come-ons, he brought her meals, handmade projectiles for all the fieldwork she was doing and even some genuine compliments. Of course, he only said those when he was drunk, but the effect was still pretty damned deep. He thought she was the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on, strong and independent. Plus she had a nice butt. And although he was doing all this, Rumble was trying to keep his distance as well. He constantly reminded himself that she deserved someone better than the liar he was, the misjudging idiot that made a royal mess of things. The murderer. All those lives, all that blood on his hands, because he jumped to conclusions, because he didn't know any better. At the same time though, she didn't deserve to be alone, and since no one else was stepping up to the plate, Rumble was Johnny-on-the-spot.

He had left a box with some crafted canonballs for her, the Mechanic periodically going into her building to see if the package was taken. Assuming that someone else didn't take them (which wasn't exactly a huge problem in Bandle City), he could see if she came home or not and surprise her with some take-out. He'd dropped off the package a couple hours ago and after running some other errands, went to go check on his 'bait', opening the door to Tristana's building and sneaking up the stairs, perking up like a happy little chihuahua when he saw the parcel had been removed. Trist was home, yes! He stumbled a bit as he rushed back down the steps, no doubt making quite a bit more noise than he meant to. Still, about twenty minutes later, he's stroll back up those steps with a nice big bag full of Ionian cuisine take-out, like stir fry, firecracker chicken and fried rice and a six pack. Sure, Tristana would drink the whole thing without even feeling dizzy, but hopefully it'd cheer her up some after a long shift on patrol. With that, Rumble scurried up the steps to Tristana's apartment, set down the six pack and gave several nice loud knocks.

"Hey Trist, it's me! You decent? I brought over some beers and some food!" Rumble announced, hoping that these bribing points would be enough for her to let him in.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

While Teemo was sleeping nice and peacefully, the Blight of the Elder Gods was finally able to pool all its resources and get those renovations underway. While Veigar and Fenrir wrestled, the arcane waste was only helping the parasite grow more quickly, to help thicken its tethers into its host's body and get its appendages nice and plump once again. Although Teemo was still, his tentacles would undergo periods of becoming incredibly active. With a sudden growth spurt, they'd get uncomfortable in their original position, so would writhe and slither over the Badger, only to continue getting thicker and heavier, and then would writhe and stretch out again. Knowing just how vulnerable they could be, of course they reacted to the worg's nudge much more violently than normal. It was like poking someone when they were completely focused on something, the Blight crackling angrily as several tentacles suddenly snared up around Fenrir's body. Whereas earlier that night, the thin tentacles were barely able to completely wind up around Veigar's arms and legs, they were now nearly engulfing the poor, confused worg's torso, starting to sting and zap him relentlessly. Luckily, with its 'mind' on other things, the charges weren't too powerful or debilitating, but certainly a nasty surprise for the worg who was just having fun playing with his master!





"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

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The gunner wouldn't have known how much time had passed if it weren't for that stupid cuckoo clock going off at every hour, something that Mustang had gotten her when she started showing up late to work. Tristana used to be very punctual as hard as that is to imagine. However when her worries about the badger increased.. so too did her drinking. Sometimes she would overdo it even though she knew that she had work the next morning. And so Mustang got her a loud and obnoxious cuckoo clock that would permeate the inebriated deep sleep that she would fall into and force her awake. She could have just tossed it but she kept it, she did want to be responsible after all and maintain her job. Being a Commando was very special, they were a legendary elite force that was whispered about all throughout Runeterra. It was those legends that had attracted her to the Commandos in the first place, as did her dear older brother. She fought tooth and nail to get in, she wasn't going to lose her place simply because she was tardy too many times! Heck no. But with all this drama going on involving the badger she was allowed some more breaks, working small patrols here and there when she did manage to come back to Bandle. Both Mustang and Hughes knew that she was the only one that Teemo could rely on right now. He needed her and they would gladly let her go, even if it risked her well being with the mage being there as well.

☩ ☩ Tristana hadn't slept a wink last night, too busy pouring all of the books and papers she amassed around herself. Unlike Veigar and Teemo who could pull all nighters as though it were nothing she, like any normal yordle being, slept every night. The fact that she didn't get any sleep meant that she'd be a bit grouchy today. As she stared up at the ceiling she realized just how stupid that was of her. What if Veigar turned out to be at the cave tonight? Then there'd be no way that she'd be able to get any sleep. She looked over at the clock, alright, so it was almost noon. She could sleep for three hours, get all the stuff that she mentally listed to give to Teemo ready, sleep for a bit more and then head out. The reason she spaced out her sleep like that was just in case she lacked an item she wanted to bring to the cave, gods she hoped not. This was going to be an utter nightmare if Veigar did turn out to be at the cave but she knew that she had to go. She had to be the annoying wedge between them, afraid for what might happen if she didn't. Tristana could just imagine Teemo being tied to a bunch of puppet strings and Veigar making him dance around like a fool in front of all the yordles in Bandle. What a b*****d...

☩ ☩ KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Her head perked up from the back of the couch. Such loud and obnoxious knocking, just who could it be? It couldn't be the neighbors, she wasn't making any noise! “Hey Trist, it's me! You decent? I brought over some beers and some food!” Oh, it was just Rumble. It seems every time she returns to Bandle she's always seeing him. The guy had really made quite a few changes ever since she saved his hide from being blasted by the Master of Evil. Rumble had earned himself a spot in her heart. He was no longer that annoying, one-liner spouting ruffian that she used to detest and avoid. There was in fact a side to him that was sweet and gentle, a chihuahua hidden in the pitbull. (Though to be honest chihuahua's are ******** scary.) The last time they had talked she learned that he was now going to school and picking up jobs here and there, helping to build Bandle some more defensive and offensive items. Not much he could do without a degree but he did what he could and that meant a lot. He was giving back to the community, finally! With a talent like his he could surely make quite a few changes around here. She had also talked to him about Teemo, gods, even Rumble thought that Teemo was in cahoots with Veigar! That only compelled her to keep trying to separate those two. Poor Teemo was being misunderstood all over the place!

☩ ☩ She kinda wished that Rumble hadn't dropped by. She had to get ready to go out again, wanting to catch some Z's before she left. If she hung out with Rumble then she wouldn't get any sleep at all! As tempting as food and beer -- mostly the beer -- sounded, she decided that she would have to decline. “Yeah yeah, come on in!” Her voice went kinda scratchy at the end, the gunner clearing her throat as the menace was welcomed inside. She was too lazy to get up from the couch and the door was unlocked anyways, he could come in on his own. What he would see was a mess, though that was expected of Tristana's apartment but usually the mess comprised of food, ammo, empty beer bottles and canons. Now the mess had a bunch of papers and books added to the mix which was very peculiar, very peculiar indeed. She was surrounded by papers and books having the living room table scooted up in front of the couch. There were small bags under her eyes but not too bad, her hair was completely disheveled, and for some reason she was wearing her Commando armor. Changing into some pajamas would have been more comfortable.. why didn't she do that? Did she think that if she wasted a moment to go and change she might miss some important detail from a book and miss her chance to save the badger? Maybe. Or maybe she was just too caught up in all these books to even think about it.

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@@ 「 Ｖｅｉｇａｒ, ｔｈｅ ｔｉｎｙ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ｏｆ Ｅｖｉｌ 」

☪ ☪ The mage and his mutt were having some quality time here, strengthening their bond with some good 'ole fashioned wrestling. Things took a turn for the worse as Fenrir was bumped into Teemo's sleeping form, ticking off the very irritable Blight and earning it's wrath. The worg was just in the middle of getting up to go after Veigar and resume their wrestling session when all of a sudden the Blight's tentacles began to wind around him. Now he had absolutely no idea what was going on but he didn't think that he was in harm's way. With a sniff he could tell what they were, a part of the badger but also had that Shadow Isles quality to it. Yes, it was that pesky blight thing. What, was Teemo awake? Did he wish to join in on the wrestling? Veigar looked up and watched the crackling appendages grab up his pet, giving a blink as he tried to figure out just what the heck it was doing. Teemo was still conked out and yet the Blight was so active and.. no, his eyes must be playing tricks on him. It appeared that the tentacles had grown but there was just no way that could of happened. Sure the mage hasn't been examining them but there wasn't a point anymore! They were fully grown and they were healthy, there should have been no more changes with the parasite.Those tentacles were coming from the badger, right? Yes, yes they certainly were. Fortunately enough for the poor worg the Blight was still too preoccupied with it's continuing growth spurts to really pump too much energy into it's attack. Still it wasn't going to be very pleasant either.

☪ ☪ “AROO!” came Fenrir's surprised yelp as the Blight began to shock him. “HEY!” Veigar yelled at the parasite, making a move towards the thing until it spat out the worg, tossing him away from the resting badger. Fenrir whimpered and whined, getting up and going on over to his little bed over in Veigar's side of the cave. The mage growled, ticked by what the Blight had done to his mutt. Only he could abuse his mutt! “Don't touch my mutt you stupid parasite!” Fenrir would have been doing back flips hearing his master call him 'his' if he wasn't still recovering from the shock attack. It didn't hurt him badly but it did in fact hurt! So while he went to go whimper it off Veigar went to deal with the Blight. He had to take a look at it's inner workings to see just what the hell was going on, moving forwards and kneeling in front of the badger. With two metal claws he opened up one of Teemo's eyes and went to take a look, not thinking that the Blight would interrupt him. It's not like he was threatening the badger's safety right?


███████████████████████████████████████████████
x
COMPANY x ► x rumble xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

There was a momentary pause before Tristana answered and, for just a moment, it felt like time stopped. Even though he was getting more chummy with Tristana, he still couldn't shoo away the feeling like he swallowed a whole jar of butterflies when he began talking to her, couldn't take this relationship for granted. He knew he didn't deserve someone as good as her, so there was still that brief moment he thought she might tell him to 'go away', that she's too busy. There was an even deeper fear that somehow or another, she had discovered the truth and push him out of her life, and rightly so. All because of just a brief pause, probably mostly caused by Tristana's sleep deprived and groggy state. However, when that statement came, "Yeah yeah, come on in!" it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was allowed to see her once again, allowed to be close to her and try to make her feel special, as much as she was getting down on herself lately. The Mechanized Menace didn't wait for a second call, opening the door and kicking it shut behind him, taking a look at the Gunner's rather disheveled state.

"Jeez, you look like hell." Rumble said, concern lining his features, stepping forward a bit and setting the six pack down on the ground along with the bag of food. Of course, this earned him a bit of a stink eye from Tristana, but he quickly averted eye contact, scrambling to follow that up with what he really meant by that. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

There was that genuine concern as he looked up from the mess surrounding the couch back up to the Gunner, but quickly found himself looking back down at all the books, the paper clippings and so on surrounding the bed. His brows furrowed a bit as he leaned down and began to open a heavy leatherbound volume entitled 'Creatures of the Shadow Isles', getting distracted by some of the other books around. Things on demons and monsters, on defensive strategies during the Rune Wars, on relics and rare artifacts of Runeterra. Just what the hell was Tristana trying to figure out? But it all seemed to come together when his brown eyes scanned over some of the more recent newspapers and articles littered about on the floor. They all had one thing in common, and Rumble could easily see what they had to do with the books. They all featured Veigar. Looking at the content of the books, Rumble looked up at Tristana again, closing the book and putting it aside.

"What's all this? You thinking about trying to fight him?" Rumble said with an obvious tone of disapproval in his voice, going ahead and taking a seat nearby the Gunner, reaching out and rubbing her arm a bit. "C'mon, what's this all about?"

Whatever it was, she really seemed like she needed to talk, so here he was again, poking and prodding her like an annoying little brother, trying to get her to open up and let him know what was going on. If maybe, just maybe, there was something he could do to help.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The Blight retracted, feeling that it did a proper job of protecting its host from whatever the furry thing that got too close was. Its appendages slithered on back over, laying neatly over Teemo, coiling up and making itself cozy once again. However, it seemed that Veigar didn't get the message it was trying to send to Fenrir, crackling again when he approached. And when he dared to TOUCH the scout? Oh, it. Was. ON!

With a quick slap in his chest, one of the thicker, middle tentacles shoved Veigar away, the other tentacles tightening and winding around their Host's body, almost completely hiding away the Badger in a blanket of tentacles. That was a warning slap, the appendages producing several angry crackles to show Veigar that they meant business and wouldn't hesitate to attack him again with a bit more 'oomph' the next time.




"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

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That one brief moment of silence got Rumble all up in a tizzy. His mind raced with worries and fears as he stood there at her door anxiously waiting for her to respond. The moment was indeed caused by her poor sleep-deprived mind, she hadn't even noticed the slight pause as she finally invited him in and relieved his stress. She leaned forwards as she looked down at the book resting in her lap, absently turning a page over as Rumble entered her messy abode and set his things down on the floor. The zest of the Ionian cuisine permeated the air, quickly covering up the old musty scents that had previously existed. Only now she realized how hungry she was. Well that was to be expected since she hasn't eaten anything ever since returning to Bandle City yesterday. The menace didn't take long to notice just how bad the gunner looked, not ugly but certainly tired and stressed. Her blue eyes lacked their bright shimmer. Each time he saw her her eyes looked duller and duller. Just what was happening to their shine? Sometimes he would manage to regain a bit of it, get her to smile, but something was happening. The gunner was changing. It was like something was draining her spirit. Tristana couldn't hold herself up like she had before. Her cherry and upbeat giggle had been lost, her happy demeanor being sapped away by some unknown force. The more she went out of Bandle the more she seemed to lose herself. She couldn't talk to anyone about what was troubling her, not even Mustang and Hughes. They were trying so hard to get Teemo back in, she was afraid that if she opened her mouth she might risk losing their help.

☩ ☩ No, she was on her own. She couldn't tell a soul about the badger's struggle with Veigar. The people were just about to accept him back in! The gunner kept her mouth shut, keeping so many things bottled. She shoved away warmth to protect her secrets from spilling, allowing them to grow and fester. They filled the cauldron of rage that brewed in her belly and wore her down. This was why Teemo didn't wish to involve anyone with his personal life, because he didn't want anyone to get hurt! But there was no way to avoid it. He was Tristana's best friend and she was going to give everything she had to keep him safe.

☩ ☩ “Jeez, you look like hell.” He put down his things, the gunner looking up from her book and throwing him a grumpy groan and a stink eye. “Did you sleep at all last night?” She sighed, for some reason having a hard time making eye contact with the other.

☩ ☩ “It's that obvious huh?” Geez, she didn't even want to bother looking in the mirror. She must have been quite the mess, running a hand through her already very disheveled white hair. Why did Rumble have to come now, out of all times? Ugh.. she should have pretended that no one was home, a behavior that Teemo used to have when he insisted on living in isolation so that he could continue his obsessive studies on Veigar. Tristana was going down the exact same path as he did. With all her research materials spread out she didn't think to try to hide any of it away though she probably should have. While the nosy mechanic began to browse through the mess of papers and books she kept her gaze down on the journal in her lap, occasionally running her fingers through her hair and giving her strands a tug. “Ah hey, listen, thanks for bringing over lunch but I'm kinda busy right now. I'm actually getting ready to go back out on another patrol in the forest. I don't know how long I'll be but when I get back I'll find ya and we can have some lunch, sound good?” She sounded so tired and uneasy, the gunner not once breaking her gaze away from the journal on her lap. This gave Rumble ample time to figure out just what she was researching. Finding Tristana surrounded by a bunch of books? Yeah, something definitely wasn't right and the menace was on point. This was all stuff relating to Veigar.

☩ ☩ “What's all this? You thinking about trying to fight him?” It was this that managed to garner the gunner's gaze, looking up from the journal before somewhat nervously flicking her gaze away as he took a seat next to her. He had to move some papers before he sat down on the couch with her, giving her both the company and the warmth she so desperately needed. “C'mon, what's this all about?” He asked, giving her arm a little rub. Even though she was still in her armor she could still feel the warmth breach through and it made her jerk a bit. That was the substance she was trying to avoid. She knew what it would do, it would break her down and force her to reveal her troubles. Although, she had promised Rumble before that she would tell him everything. She told him that she trusted him, had she forgotten that?

☩ ☩ “I.. no, well-- er, kinda.” She said, sheepishly scratching the back of her neck. “Don't worry though, I'm not gonna try pulling anything yet. I still need to figure out a way to disable his magic, even if it's only temporary. Then I can get him.” She looked up at him with those dulled eyes of hers yet still those sapphires were so captivating. “Do you remember what I told you a week ago? When you said that you thought Veigar and Teemo were working together? That's not true, and it never will be true, but Veigar.... he's been brainwashing Teemo.” She knew just how crazy it sounded and immediately went and grasped Rumble's arm, hoping to keep him there to hear the rest of what she had to say afraid that he might leave too soon. This was a secret that she has kept safely tucked away from everyone and now that she had divulged it to Rumble she felt like she was on a time limit. She had to get out as much as she could before the guy got up and walked away. She had to convince him of the truth!

☩ ☩ “Now just here me out. Listen, Teemo, he was always trying to kill Veigar. He would spend days locked up in his room researching, trying to come up with how he could get him. He was like that for years, I would have to come and wrench him out of his room! But then Veigar, he did something, and now Teemo is starting to say weird things. He says that he had actually met Veigar before he was an evil mage, that he used to be a merchant on an airship and that it was because of him that he came to join the Scouts. And he - get this - actually said that Veigar was a yordle! A yordle! It's Veigar though, I know that it's all Veigar. He's doing this, he's using some kind of magic and using it to mess with Teemo's memories. But he's still not on Veigar's side though, he's not. That's why you were confused Rumble, that's why you thought they were working together but they're not. They're not!”

☩ ☩ As she sputtered all of this out she kept on holding onto Rumble's arm. Her form trembled, so afraid that Rumble would dismiss her words. The gunner was going out on a limb here. This could either go very well or very badly. If Rumble seemed like he would turn around and tell the world what she said she would make it a point to trap him. No way was she going to let her blunder threaten Teemo's acceptance back into Bandle City. But she trusted Rumble, she trusted him right? “You, you believe me right? You have to believe me. It's the truth! Rumble tell me you believe me. Tell me you believe me!” At this point she was pretty much borderline neurotic, so gods damn terrified that the mechanic wouldn't believe her. All of this came right the ******** out of nowhere. She threw all of this at Rumble and then begged him to believe her words. There was just so much that she could tell the mechanic about Teemo being brainwashed by Veigar, all the crap that has happened, but she needed to know that Rumble was willing to hear her out. He had to believe her, he just had to!

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@@ 「 Ｖｅｉｇａｒ, ｔｈｅ ｔｉｎｙ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ｏｆ Ｅｖｉｌ 」

☪ ☪ Veigar ignored the angry crackling of the tentacles. Sure the Blight had flung Fenrir after shocking the living daylights out of him but that was only because he had bumped into the badger and presented himself as a possible threat. The mage wasn't bumping into him at all so surely he would be different, right? Apparently not. Before Veigar could peer into Teemo's eye he was smacked in the chest with a tentacle and sent flying away from the parasite's host. “Ragh!” came his surprised yelp from the attack, rolling and hitting a few pots and pans on the other side of the cave. Fenrir whined, rubbing himself against the blankets as he listened to his master fight the dreaded Blight of the Badger Gods. The tentacles curled and enveloped Teemo's form, hissing with it's crackles of electricity. Clearly it was pissed and defensive.. but after hitting Veigar, a being that it knew contained quite a bit of power, it was going to get it. It had snatched away his tome earlier, shocked his worg, and now it had dared to shock him. Unacceptable! He growled loudly and threw a pot off of his form, coming to stand as he angrily marched straight for the parasite. The blight could crackle and tense all it wanted, none of it's intimidation had an effect on the mage. He threw up a hand, and with that he forced all of the tentacles off of the badger. They could struggle against their invisible binds that kept them taught, holding each one of them straight and back to allow Veigar ample room to work.

☪ ☪ “Your demise soon approaches PARASITE!” He yelled, coming to kneel before the badger to once again attempt to take a look at the inner workings of the Blight. With two claws he opened up Teemo's right eye, probably nicking his flesh a bit but who cares. Manipulating the intensity of the light of his eyes he increased them to get a better look, turning that invisible dial on his temple with a claw. A low growl continued to rumble in his throat as he scanned the inner working, not too pleased about finding out that the Blight's hold had gone just a bit deeper. He couldn't imagine a white mage being able to properly remove the Blight without permanently damaging the badger's brain. Was he going to be like this forever? The thought surprisingly made him feel a bit giddy, like finding out that tomorrow might be a snow day. If Teemo couldn't get rid of the Blight then that would mean that he would be out here forever. Although they would never be able to fight in Bandle again.. at least the mage would have a reason not to distance himself from the badger. After a few more moments he withdrew, releasing Teemo's eye and looking up at the tentacles. Despite the growth spurt it was going through it still seemed to be quite healthy. Question was, why on Runeterra was it growing in the first place!?

☪ ☪ “HEY! Why are you growing!” The mage tugged on one of the tentacles with his magic, not giving a damn if he irritated it or not. This had been a worry of Veigar's ever since he found out that the badger had sprouted out a Blight. He never got to figure out what caused it's rapid growth. It should have taken it a year to grow and then another year for Teemo to be able to control it yet it only took Teemo a couple of months! Well whatever had caused it was potentially causing this growth spurt now. The puzzle once again presented itself but this time the mage had all the pieces. Unfortunately he did not have a lightning-speed processor like Teemo had. No, he had a solar powered calculator. There were color coded blocks and he picked them up, scrutinizing each one as though it were an intricate part of a rubix cube. He wasn't very good at it save for some subjects but it was that time again, yes. It was time.. to think. The rusty gears began to turn. Sometimes he tugged over a tentacle with his magic to take a better look at it and sometimes he took another glimpse at the inner workings of the Blight. He never released his magic's hold on the tentacles though, keeping them up and away so that he could remain seated right in front of Teemo to do his thinking. After awhile he came to simply just hard stare at the badger's face, sitting there pretzel style with his arms crossed. Occasionally a hum or a growl would escape him. If the Blight dared to spark he would yell at it to be quiet before continuing to think. Just what.. could be the answer!?


███████████████████████████████████████████████
x
COMPANY x ► x rumble xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

Tristana's behavior as strange, outlandish, something definitely out of the ordinary. She wasn't her cheerful, outgoing, happy self any longer and Rumble wanted to know why. He wanted to try to offer some advice, to help make her feel better. Seeing Tristana in this condition was heartbreaking, to say the least. And since no one else was stepping up to the plate, Rumble grabbed the bat and came up, poking and examining, hoping to finally get Tristana to speak her mind, to allow her to unload a bit of emotional baggage onto his shoulders. And eventually, she did. When she started speaking, the Gunner was hesitant and weary, her tone definitely indicating that she wasn't sure about doing this at all. “Do you remember what I told you a week ago? When you said that you thought Veigar and Teemo were working together? That's not true, and it never will be true, but Veigar.... he's been brainwashing Teemo.” Rumble didn't back off in the slightest, only tensing a bit when Tristana gripped his arm, but could see just how desperate she was for someone to listen to her, to help with this huge load of emotions. Rather than pulling away or telling her she was crazy, he reciprocated her touch. He squeezed her arm, rubbed it and listened very carefully, his own warmth letting her know that he wasn't going to run off, his expression attentive, but confused. Obviously anyone would be skeptical when the term 'brainwashing' was being used, be still he sat by and listened to her explanation. “Now just here me out. Listen, Teemo, he was always trying to kill Veigar. He would spend days locked up in his room researching, trying to come up with how he could get him. He was like that for years, I would have to come and wrench him out of his room! But then Veigar, he did something, and now Teemo is starting to say weird things. He says that he had actually met Veigar before he was an evil mage, that he used to be a merchant on an airship and that it was because of him that he came to join the Scouts. And he - get this - actually said that Veigar was a yordle! A yordle!"

He didn't interrupt, but her frantic way of speaking was disconcerting, making her sound rather unhinged, but he looked at what he knew, what experiences he had. If Teemo and Veigar really were in cahoots, it would mean that Teemo was choosing this guy over his family which didn't make any sense, it didn't add up. At first Rumble believed that Teemo was doing it for the fame and glory, but now had his doubts, especially when Tristana was painting this kind of picture. Seeing Veigar's raw power take the 'life' of Tristy, the Mage wasn't the kind of guy you bargained with, could be friends with and certainly, most definitely was NOT a yordle. What happened in Viola's basement may have just been a bone that Veigar threw to Teemo to string him along, and with Magic like that, Rumble couldn't see the Mage having trouble with simple memory manipulation, right? Of course, this only made Rumble feel worse and worse as all those pieces fell into place, that Teemo really was a victim here. And yet she still kept going, his frown becoming more apparent as she continued.

"It's Veigar though, I know that it's all Veigar. He's doing this, he's using some kind of magic and using it to mess with Teemo's memories. But he's still not on Veigar's side though, he's not. That's why you were confused Rumble, that's why you thought they were working together but they're not. They're not!”

She said this with such conviction and passion that there was no way the Mechanic could pin the blame on Teemo any longer. Rumble's own lip quivered as she spoke, the warmth from the other pushing that guilt to the surface, once again went back to tying his stomach in big ol' knots. Tristana seemed to read his expression as disbelief, pity for the sputtering, ranting Gunner as she insisted that he believe her, asking him for reassurance.

“You, you believe me right? You have to believe me. It's the truth! Rumble tell me you believe me. Tell me you believe me!” She pleaded, the Mechanic beginning to nod, looking absolutely distraught. Oh gods, all those people were dead. He killed them, he killed them all over a simple misunderstanding---!

"It...It makes so much sense. I can't believe I thought...oh maker, Tristana! Of course I believe you, it makes so much more sense..." Rumble said, but did not sound relieved. He didn't sound happy or glad or excited, but looked as though someone just dropped a ton of bricks on his home. In a way, it did, crushing any hopes any lies he was telling himself that he made the right decision in setting the Badger up. He really did believe Tristana, but that meant that he was wrong. He made a huge mistake, and didn't deserve a lick of anything he was working towards. He stared into Tristana's eyes and just held onto her, once again savoring that warmth, knowing that this may be the last time he would ever feel it from her again.






"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

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She just couldn't get all of this out of her fast enough. She was scared, so gods damned scared that Rumble wouldn't believe her. She was taking a chance with him in divulging all this information, information that she completely believed to be true. Rumble would either turn out to be her ally in all of this.. or should would turn into another nay sayer, a disbeliever! Though with the way she went about explaining it to the other she looked rather.. crazy. Her body trembled, her eyes widened, even her pupils had shrunk. She looked like a drug addict going through withdrawal! The early stages of withdrawal at least. The gunner grasped onto the other's arm and held onto it like a life line, silently begging him not to leave as she suddenly threw all of this at him. All this stuff was so desperate to come out of her that once it started to trickle out, it all came out like a freaking water fall. And the mechanic, however sudden this was, didn't miss a beat. He held her arm and gave it a rub even though she couldn't feel it through her leather armor. It was like she had tripped and he was helping steady her. Her words didn't spark any disgust or any bitterness towards Teemo but rather conjured a heaping helping of guilt, his frown continuing to grow as she sputtered on.

☩ ☩ Fortunately for Tristana the mechanic was actually believing her story. She out of all people should understand Teemo's position better then anyone, she was his best friend after all. There was such a huge drama evolving around the badger and the mage, something that would make for one incredible story for Bandle News if they ever got wind of it. Teemo's struggle, how he was being tortured and abused by the notorious Master of Evil and how his City betrayed him. A plight from their Hero going unheard as they toss him out of their home without even giving him a proper trial, it was absurd! Poor Teemo! Poor ******** Teemo! Yet Tristana was the only one who had known the truth, and now, so does Rumble, and being the one that had caused the event that led to the City's ultimate betrayal and single handedly tossed the guy out.. he felt ******** terrible. And he should, gods he should, he only had a few glimpses of interactions between the two arch-enemies and had created his own jealousy-fueled theory about Teemo. Instead of lending a hand to a yordle in distress he kicked him, spat in his face, stole his home, friends and family away and then threw him out in the dirt. It was all Rumble's fault, not Veigar's.

☩ ☩ “It...It makes so much sense. I can't believe I thought...oh maker, Tristana! Of course I believe you, it makes so much more sense...” She nodded fervently when it started to sound like he was getting it, although if she had said this to anyone else in the same manner as she did they would immediately start questioning her mental state. “Yes, yes! You see!? That's why I'm trying to defeat Veigar. He needs to be stopped! Teemo, he just keeps defending him but he doesn't know! Veiigar was the whole reason why he was kicked out of Bandle in the first place!” The gunner finally gave an exasperated sigh, feeling a thousand times better now that she had someone to share this emotional burden with. Yes, now she could tell Rumble all about what she's seen. She no longer had to hold anything back anymore! The gunner had someone to share this with. Already she could feel the weight of the rage cauldron lighten. She didn't have to struggle with this alone anymore, she had someone on her side. The relief was immense, so much so that she went ahead and leaned herself against the mechanic and put her head against his shoulder. A physical show of how she felt, that she could truly rely on him now.

☩ ☩ “Oh Rumble.. I'm so happy you believe me, you have no idea. No freaking idea.. thanks for coming over. You're such a good guy, y'know that?” She turned towards the menace and grabbed him up in her arms giving him a low hug underneath his arms, pressing her cheek against his chest. Now she no longer had to fight the warmth. As soon as she realized that she immediately went for his core, seeking that precious mental substance that would keep her comforted and strong. She sighed contently, unaware of the kinds of thoughts and emotions running through the mechanic's mind. “Mhm, and don't you try to deny it. You act all tough and macho all the time but you really do care about everyone. If you didn't you wouldn't be here, or trying to help with the defenses of Bandle!” She smiled, perking her head up to look at him but still keeping her hold around his body. And there it was, the genuine Tristana-glimmer beginning to shine on through the dullness of her big 'ole sapphire eyes. Already the yordle was starting to recover as she willingly allowed the warmth to flow in, no longer restricting the natural substance.

☩ ☩ A huge weight lifted off of her shoulders and her heart. Here she was throwing all this weight Rumble's way thinking that he wouldn't have a problem carrying it, unaware of the boulders he already had mounted on his back. In this moment a lot of things were changing with the gunner. She was feeling better but she was also feeling fonder of the mechanic, almost as though he had somehow triggered a bout of "cuddle hormones" in the gunner. All it took was for him to listen and believe her. “And good guys always get a kiss. Did you know that?” she pecked him on the cheek and chuckled, obviously joking, or perhaps not so obviously. She didn't mind giving him that peck, not in the slightest. The guy deserved it for being there and caring about her. Usually she would show her affections with a bump on the shoulder or a nudge in the arm but this time she would make an exception, basking in all of the warmth the mechanic had to offer. “Alright! Now lets tackle that Ionian food, I'm starving!” It was like Rumble had replaced her batteries even though she had stayed up all night. She was just so energized and happy! Her worries about Teemo, her concerns and troubles could now all be talked about with the menace. She didn't have to bottle it up anymore and gods did it feel great. There was still so much for her to say but they would get to it all eventually.. or so she thought....


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COMPANY x ► x rumble xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

Whereas Tristana's spirits were lifted, pulled up out of despair, Rumble's were sinking, sinking, sinking fast. He was in a daze as that thought kept looping in his head. 'I killed all those people, they're dead. I was wrong, I had no right. No reason. They're dead, they're dead, they're dead!'. Unlike Veigar, or even Teemo, Rumble wasn't quite as detached as they were, didn't know how to cope with such guilt. For Veigar, murder was a pleasure, as though getting back at the world for all the pain and suffering they put him through. And Teemo's way of dealing with things wasn't exactly healthy, how he simply 'turned off' the emotional part of his brain while he was on the field and packed up the memories of all the pain he caused, putting them on some nice, neat shelves in the back of his mind. Rumble had jumped to conclusions, and his only mental defense for what he did was that they were a sacrifice for the greater good. That by ousting a corrupt Hero like Teemo, a true Hero like himself could rise. Tristana's words almost sounded like they were underwater, the Mechanic stunned as she nearly flitted about him, reenergized and so freakin' happy that someone believed her, some believed her! Now she had a dumping ground for all her emotional baggage, right?

“Oh Rumble.. I'm so happy you believe me, you have no idea. No freaking idea.. thanks for coming over." she said, the Mechanic giving a nod. He could hold it together if they just changed the subject, started talking about something else. "You're such a good guy, y'know that?”

"No, really. I'm not all that great," Rumble said, shaking his head and unexpectedly having Tristana wrap him up in a hug. Their chests pressed against one another, the Gunner was finally able to indulge in the substance she was avoiding for so long and Rumble had it forced upon him, all that warmth, that acceptance...that care, he didn't deserve any of it! Tears continued to well up in his eyes as she rubbed him, continued to admonish him, making him feel shittier and shittier by the moment.

“Mhm, and don't you try to deny it. You act all tough and macho all the time but you really do care about everyone. If you didn't you wouldn't be here, or trying to help with the defenses of Bandle!” Tristana said, Rumble shaking his head. He did care about Bandle, about what other City States thought of them. He cared about helping Bandle City appear strong, that they weren't just a race of half-pint pushovers that weren't to be taken seriously. He did care, but now that he was showing it, now that he was trying to get his life together, he realized just how complicated it all was, how much it hurt. That everything Tristana was saying about him was based on a lie. It was his fault her best friend was banished, his fault that she was a wreck! Oh gods, it hurt. It hurt so bad! If it were Teemo in this situation, he would have had the mind to know just how much the truth would hurt Tristana. Even Rumble could see the huge change in Tristana's attitude, and if it was Teemo in Rumble's position, he would have kept his mouth shut. He would have suffered in silence so the Gunner could be happy, could be relieved and light hearted again, but not Rumble. He wasn't as strong as the Scout and in spite of how much he was continuously improving, he was still quite the coward. The warmth kept attacking him, pushing him to blurt out what was bothering him so that he too could be light hearted once again. It's what he needed to feel better, but at what cost? He wasn't as strong as Teemo, his will to hold things back only loosening as Tristana continued to speak.

“And good guys always get a kiss. Did you know that?”

"Wait, I---!" Too late! Peck. For a moment, his mind stopped and cheeks heated up, only to continue their downward spiral, the Gunner immediately going for the food he brought. “Alright! Now lets tackle that Ionian food, I'm starving!”

Luckily, Tristana let him go, but she noticed he wasn't going for the food, suddenly finding his hands and his lap terribly interesting. His ears were pinned back and expression absolutely screaming that something was wrong, the Megling Gunner looking up and tilting her head.

"What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?" she asked, the Mechanic shaking his head slowly. He had to. He had to tell her the truth. He didn't deserve to be close to her, didn't deserve her affection, that kiss. It had to stop now.

"Trist, I'm not a good guy. This...this is all my fault!" Rumble blurted, having no idea what else to say. This whole mess was his fault, for jumping to conclusions. But by Tristana's puzzled look, he knew he needed to elaborate, to tell her just what was his fault. He felt like he swallowed that whole bag of canonballs, but now Tristana's eyes were on him, the still rather cowardly Mechanic looking down, hugging his own arms and shaking his head. He took in a breath, trying to calm his nerves. He had to get this out, Tristana deserved to know the truth.

"I...I really believed that Veigar and Teemo were working together, that he was just working with Veigar for all the glory that came with being a Hero! But when you put it all that way...it makes so much more sense." Rumble sputtered, continuing to shake his head. "I thought Veigar would keep attacking Bandle, and that no one else would stand up to him because Teemo was here. I got so mad because I really thought he was choosing that Monster over...over his family, over PERCY! Over you and everyone else for his own selfish reasons!"

Rumble acted tough, but there were a good handful of people he cared for. He cared for Percy, for Ziggs, two yordles who left him to go study under Heimerdinger, but at least Percy came back, leaving a bit of a bitter taste in the Mechanic's mouth regarding his relationship with Ziggs. Rumble just wanted to make sure that Tristana knew he thought he was doing what was best for Bandle City, before he finally dropped a bomb of his own.

"...then he came to me and Percy with his designs for the Gaseous Traps. We...we built the casing and the Badger brought the chemicals." Rumble said, not knowing how it was actually Veigar who helped him gather the dastardly toxins.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, almost afraid to get the answer.

"I...I thought I could be the Hero Bandle needed." Rumble finally admitted, holding his arms tightly and tears moistening his cheeks, but no cries came. No sobs for pity or forgiveness, the Mechanic continuing. "I thought if I got Teemo out of the picture, I'd be able to defeat Veigar, that I could stop him! I...I set up those traps in the marketplace."

He tensed, waiting for his punishment. He didn't care if Tristana beat him black and blue, left him a bloody disfigured pulp. He deserved it, he knew he deserved it, and so he stopped there, allowing the Gunner to do what she wanted to make herself feel better, to properly vent if needed.






"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

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She was absolutely clueless. Here she thought she had found a friend to share all of her troubles with, someone she could exchange warmth with in her time of need. Someone she didn't have to push away to keep away her secrets. She couldn't allow herself to divulge anything about Teemo's situation to anyone else, not even her superior officers who had certainly noticed her slight decline. Even though she insisted that she was alright they knew better. They allowed her to go to Teemo whenever she was able and yet for some reason she always returned just a bit worse then before. Just what on Runeterra was going on over there? They had to get their badger back now and boy were they trying. Every day they would head on over to Town Hall to join the mass mayhem which Jadefellow was quickly growing frustrated with but it seemed like they weren't going to stop until Teemo came back. Those who had any ties to Teemo were questioned about him and they always received the same kind of feedback.. except from maybe perhaps Percy who might not have said incredibly kind things about him but the rest, especially Viola, all painted him in a good light. And most of them were completely appalled and disgusted by the way their City had treated Teemo. Regrets and sympathies went out to them serving as fuel to push their discussions and arguments at Town Hall even further. It seems that they were just about to make a decision about all of this. With Jadefellow near his tipping point, to save his image he would eventually give in and allow Teemo back into Bandle to have a proper trial. He would stick to his story though that at the time he had no choice but to banish him, what with the people in such an uproar over the Southern Marketplace disaster. It was for the badger's own good! But truly the mayor had been glad to get rid of him. Teemo was always being fussed about and people kept nagging him about it, it was driving him nuts! But when he let Teemo go he realized the mistake he had made.. now who was going to distract the beast?

☩ ☩ Certainly not Rumble, and certainly not anyone else in the City that's for sure. There was absolutely no reason to kick Teemo out and yet they had, the City betrayed their Hero and they felt terrible about it. Even worse if they found out that Veigar was behind all of his somewhat neurotic behavior. It would make sense for the Villain to torture the Hero in any possible way that he could. That was the picture that was going to be painted for the public when it all comes down. That once again it was not Teemo's fault, but Veigar's. Typically Teemo liked to foist the blame upon himself but he would not be able to do such a thing. Veigar was their usual scapegoat for things. Strange weather patterns? Must be Veigar. Lost your keys? Had to be that damn monster! It didn't matter what it was. Sometimes people would claim to have been bothered by the tiny Master just for the sake of evoking drama and drawing attention onto themselves. Once they found out the "truth" about how Veigar "tricked" them all into thinking that Teemo was going nutty, how he had messed with the badger so much so that he actually managed to unhinge him, how it was his fault that the citizens strayed away from Teemo -- they would be harder on him then ever before. He would become an even more detested figure if that was even possible. This is what Tristana had come to believe and look at just how incredibly pissed she was? And yet she's had friends fall before her, lost due to the monster's madness. Her reaction would be mostly copied by the rest of the public once they came to find out the "truth" that the gunner has. And boy would she be living it up, glad that she would finally be able to talk to everyone around her about this dilemma. Because everyone would know the truth! Yes, that all along it - was - Veigar's fault. How could they not have known? How could they doubt their HERO?

☩ ☩ But enough about that, it was time to take a nice little break from all of that drama and eat some fine Ionian cuisine with Rumble. She felt so much better now that she had someone to unload things onto. What a terrible thing to be raised to such an elevated state of mind only for it to come hurdling down just moments later. It made the dive even deeper, it's depths even darker. The gunner let go of the mechanic and was about to go and fetch the food on the floor when she noticed just how distraught the mechanic looked. His ears were pinned back, his brows were furrowed, and his head was bowed slightly as he stared at his hands on his lap. Clearly something was wrong here, the mechanic was upset and it probably had something to do with what they just talked about. “What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?” It wasn't too late to back out now Rumble. Fight it, fight the urge to tell the truth! But he couldn't, he just couldn't, unable to protect Tristana from Veigar and even his own foolish actions.

☩ ☩ “Trist, I'm not a good guy. This....this is all my fault!” She blinked, having absolutely no clue what he was talking about and simply gave him a puzzled look. He was going to have to elaborate and fess up to his crimes. It wasn't too late, go back Rumble! Go back! But still he could not. The floodgates had opened and now there definitely was no stopping the torrential storm that would surely sweep the gunner off of her feet. He hugged his arms and shook his head which really got the girl worried, whatever this was Rumble was really upset over it. Instead of snarling like a pitbull he was frowning and hugging himself. Whatever it was though she was sure that it was probably no big deal. He probably thought it was his fault when it actually wasn't. “I...I really believed that Veigar and Teemo were working together, that he was just working with Veigar for all the glory that came with being a Hero! But when you put it all that way...it makes so much more sense. I thought Veigar would keep attacking Bandle, and that no one else would stand up to him because Teemo was here. I got so mad because I really thought he was choosing that Monster over...over his family, over PERCY! Over you and everyone else for his own selfish reasons!” The mechanic kept shaking his head as he revealed his thoughts and already the gunner was coming up with assumptions as to why Rumble was feeling so shitty. Now that he knew the truth he realized just how terrible and wrong these thoughts were. Everybody knew that Rumble didn't like Teemo, and Teemo didn't very much like Rumble either. Hell, neither had Tristana really when he was just a one-liner sputtering ruffian but now he was different. He was growing, showing her more of his belly and actually talking with her instead of using those damn pick-up lines. He was a true friend, or so she believed. Knowing of their feud Rumble probably thought that it was his fault, that he probably blamed Teemo too when the whole disaster at the marketplace occurred.

☩ ☩ And so Rumble was beating himself up over it. He had joined in the voices against the badger and now he felt like crap about it. How could he think such things of their Hero? He needed our help! He was the victim in all of this! The poor soul was being tortured right now by that damn malicious Veigar and he and the other citizens had helped put him there by not believing in him. She could see why Rumble would blame himself. If the other citizens had spoken up in behalf of Teemo when the badger clearly couldn't stand up for himself then he never would have been tossed away. Also, it had been the mechanic that had tossed Teemo out of Bandle City. It was a good thing that he had Tristy around to help take care of the gasses though, who knows how many more people would have died? Her wilted ear was a reminder of that painful day, of how she had lost so many of her people and how the people had turned their backs on their Hero. The gunner frowned a bit, already starting to sympathize with the mechanic as she already assumed what he was feeling fault about for. For joining the other citizens in their hate when they thought that Teemo had betrayed them and for being the one that ultimately tossed the badger out of the City. Her hand edged closer, just about to touch his shoulder until he said something rather eerie. “..then he came to me and Percy with his designs for the Gaseous Traps. We...we built the casing and the Badger brought the chemicals.” It was like he had finished describing the characters and the setting of a horror story and now he was getting to the scary part. Her hand flinched, still hovering just above Rumble's shoulder. Something in her gut told her that there was something really wrong here, that what Rumble was about to say was going to be more then "It's my fault, I shouldn't have agreed with everyone else! I should have defended him!"

☩ ☩ “What are you trying to say..?” she hesitantly asked, almost afraid to hear his response.

☩ ☩ “I...I thought I could be the Hero Bandle needed.” The twisting feeling in her gut grew when she heard this. It was as though this was all happening in slow motion, like she was a child witnessing a trauma. All she could do was just sit there and watch with her wide sapphire eyes as her world was slowly thrust into oblivion. Everything about this moment was being burned into her memory. The way he held himself, grasping his arms tightly with ever-so-rare tears wetting his blue furred cheeks. The faint bit of sunlight coming from the window caused those small streaks of wet to shimmer. The muffled talking from the neighbors through the thin walls and the smell of Ionian food all died out as only Rumble captured her attention. Nothing else mattered. And when he finally came out and said it everything seemed to attack her at once. Those fatal words, they couldn't be true. “I thought if I got Teemo out of the picture, I'd be able to defeat Veigar, that I could stop him! I...I set up those traps in the marketplace.” No, there was really just no way. It was impossible! No one, especially not a yordle could do something like that. Framing!? How could Rumble even do such a thing!? No, she didn't buy it. She shook her head, trying to stop herself from shaking but she couldn't. Those words he uttered were just simply too scary but she did not believe them, she did not!

☩ ☩ “Y-You? You set up the traps? Heh, that's not really funny Rumble. You couldn't of set the traps, you were working on Tristy! That's-that's what you said, you were working on Tristy which is why you showed up later on and cleaned up the poison!” Now that she thought about it this wasn't exactly an alibi. Rumble could have just set the traps and had Tristy put somewhere outside of the traps' radius. But no, she didn't want to think about that. It just couldn't be true. She couldn't jump to conclusions--- that's not would Teemo would do, no way! He would hear it all out and ask questions. There just had to be something more to this. Rumble.. could never do such a terrible thing! “W-Why would you even say that? Heh, geez, it's a good thing you're not trying to be a comedian because you'd really suck at it! I know you and Teemo don't really like each other but come on! Now, lets have some food before it gets cold!” She was avoiding it. She was running away, frantically trying to escape the truth. The gunner's mind was abuzz and her body trembled and yet she pushed herself, desperately trying to comfort herself by pretending that it was some sort of joke. She would do everything in her power to stay away from this bloody truth. It was like a black hole that threatened to suck her in but she fought, she fought hard to get away from it but she would not be able to. Why? Because deep down she already knew and so the black hole would continue to keep it's hold on her until she finally succumbed to it's dreadful force. The gunner completely removed herself from the couch, doing her best to act like normal but her nerves were all jumpy and spastic. Anything that Rumble said was ignored, the gunner desperately trying to stick to normalcy as she picked up the plastic bag of Ionian food. “I hope you told them no veggies for the lo mein, their veggies are gross! Oh you got dumplings? Sweet! I'm taking half!” she said, bringing the food and the beers over to the table. She frantically pushed a bunch of books and papers off the table with her foot and harshly set down the items upon the table, still shaking like a leaf as she sat down. “I wonder if they gave us fortune cookies this time? They forgot last time. Oh! Lemme get some forks. Freaking chopsticks, I can't even hold 'em!” The gunner moved to get up again. Moving, she just had to keep moving and talking!


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x
COMPANY x ► x rumble xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

“Y-You? You set up the traps? Heh, that's not really funny Rumble. You couldn't of set the traps, you were working on Tristy! That's-that's what you said, you were working on Tristy which is why you showed up later on and cleaned up the poison!” Tristana tried to laugh it off, tried to find excuses. No way was one of their kind responsible for such a horrendous act, it had to have been Veigar or a human or SOMEONE, but not one of them. It was a terrifying thought because it just went to show just how skewed a yordle's perception could become without warmth and company, just what happened when they were isolated for too long. You couldn't fill you barrels with nuts and bolts, ice water and blood forever, Rumble's own decision coming from his own selfish desires. He wanted what Teemo had, but didn't seem to realize he got where he was by hard work and his selfless giving, thinking that the Badger only make it appear that way. Now he saw the truth and he felt absolutely awful about it. Here Tristana was unloading her emotional weight on him, and the clueless mechanic was foisting it right back on her and then some! “W-Why would you even say that? Heh, geez, it's a good thing you're not trying to be a comedian because you'd really suck at it! I know you and Teemo don't really like each other but come on! Now, lets have some food before it gets cold! I hope you told them no veggies for the lo mein, their veggies are gross! Oh you got dumplings? Sweet! I'm taking half! I wonder if they gave us fortune cookies this time? They forgot last time. Oh! Lemme get some forks. Freaking chopsticks, I can't even hold 'em!”

She scurried around, shaking like mad. His empathy told him to back off. To just hold onto what he still had and let it go, play it off. Just chuckle and say, 'you're right Trist, hah you got me', but he just wasn't strong enough. He already got the ball rolling and had to get it out, he had to tell her. She HAD to believe him! Tristana didn't want to believe it because it could mean that yordles were capable of horrendous acts on their own kind, of violence and murder, malice and hate. It meant, in however of a sense, that Veigar very well could be a yordle. That Teemo could be right. If Rumble was capable of such a thing from his self-isolation with spare bits of warmth and nuts and bolts, then what the hell someone like Veigar was capable of? Broken down and mistreated as a child, forcibly removed from his two only steady sources of warmth, his family members, his brothers. Of course that thought probably wasn't in her mind now, but it was a link in a very, very long chain and Rumble refused to be the one carrying all the emotional weight.

"Trist, Trist!" he said, now almost frantic as he held onto her shoulders, forcing her to sit still, to be quiet. Even if she talked over him, he still kept going, giving all the details that only the perpetrator of the crime would know. "I'm not fooling around, I'm not joking! The night before it happened, I stole his keys. I took them and acted like I found them on the floor when I came back! I dropped three of 'em out the window, into a container I had in the alley. I...I left a note, telling him '12:00. Southern Marketplace', knowing he wouldn't be able to find them in time after drinking like he did that night."

It was all planned out, perfectly executed and Tristana was no doubt struggling up a storm in the pit bull's grasp. He was forcing the truth down her throat, forcing her to look at the truth rather than pretend everything was alright as the typical yordle way normally dictated. He held her fast, tears streaming from his eyes.

"I kept Tristy in a nearby garage because I knew how to bring the chemical cloud down, I just waited until the damage was done and then came in and took credit for saving everyone! I had everything equipped on Tristy to fight Veigar once the Badger was gone, I did it! I did it, I did it, I DID IT!" Rumble cried out, shaking the poor Gunner, trying to force it into her skull. It was his fault, his fault and he was a moron, an idiot for more reasons than one. If he had just kept his mouth shut, Tristana could have be happy, carefree and he would be bottling everything up, but at least he could be close to her. Because of his inability to take the emotional strain, they were both going to suffer now, the Gunner no doubt feeling betrayed, sickened and angry. Once again, he would be alone with his junk and scrap metal, but it's what he deserved. He didn't deserve the warmth or praise, staring at Gunner, expectant of her reaction.






"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

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She was giving him multiple chances to turn back, to just act as though it were all some very sick joke. But he refused, the cruel b*****d needing to foist an even heavier amount of emotional baggage at the gunner. It was an anvil that would surely smash her to pieces if she allowed it to hit. That was why she desperately tried to run away. The black hole threatened to suck away a piece of her being with this soul-crushing truth. She already sensed just how painful it would be for her to accept this truth and so she ran away from it by constantly talking and laughing. But Rumble, that heartless jerk, he could not accept that. He would force her to look him in the eyes and accept this agony. “Trist, Trist! I'm not fooling around, I'm not joking! The night before it happened, I stole his keys. I took them and acted like I found them on the floor when I came back! I dropped three of 'em out the window, into a container I had in the alley. I...I left a note, telling him '12:00. Southern Marketplace', knowing he wouldn't be able to find them in time after drinking like he did that night.” He began sputtering out all the details of that dreadful day, his premeditated plans to overthrow Teemo and expose the 'truth' to Bandle City once and for all. He was matching Tristana's sputtered truth with his own, making her feel just what he had felt when she told him about how Teemo was innocent. The only difference was the pain she would experience was worse. It was no better then mental torture, each word snipping a thread from the gunner's frantic mind. He mercilessly powered through each word, holding her firmly by the shoulders so she could no longer run away. The black hole was pulling her in and she had no way of stopping it. Once again all she could do was watch, the faint shimmer her eyes had regained dimming away once more. Her pupils shrunk as she fell into fear. Her body was quaking, her breath was shaking, her whole world was being ripped asunder.

☩ ☩ Helpless, powerless, she felt like she was watching a friend die and in a way she was. The Rumble of her mind was being killed by this sinister being before her. Each word sent another sword into her Rumble and she was completely horrified by it. What does this all mean? If Rumble was truly capable of such a vile deed, of selfishly throwing lives away to be the Hero in the eyes of his people, then did that mean other yordles were capable of such acts as well? Being a member of the Megling Commandos she has seen a few bad yordles but never, ever has she witnessed a yordle with such devious schemes up their sleeve. The thought of Veigar however did not cross her mind. There were other factors that played against him besides being evil that made her believe that he was not a yordle. But Rumble, Rumble was a yordle. After she saved him from Veigar he was so kind to her, so caring. He willingly received a beating from her just so that he could give her the warmth that she needed. He brought her food whenever she came back to Bandle and even left her the occasional gift. He was a grime-covered, rough mechanic with a big heart and a tough front. But she didn't mind it, he made her smile and laugh and that was all that mattered. He was truly a good guy.. but not this, this thing that was sitting right in front of her. What was holding her by the shoulders and searing her mind with a hot poker, that was no Rumble. That was no yordle. Whoever could do such a thing certainly did not qualify to be one, not in her eyes or in anyone else's. Yordles didn't do that, yordles didn't burn their own people just for fame and glory!

☩ ☩ “I kept Tristy in a nearby garage because I knew how to bring the chemical cloud down, I just waited until the damage was done and then came in and took credit for saving everyone! I had everything equipped on Tristy to fight Veigar once the Badger was gone, I did it! I did it, I did it, I DID IT” The cruel being yelled as poor Rumble, poor Rumble who was dying cried. Such a horrible thing for anyone to do. They had a whole City of people and yet it had to be Rumble to be the one to do this heinous deed. She had been so sure that it was Veigar, hell, everyone was already speculating that somehow it was the vile Villain's fault. The only reason why they hadn't blamed the scapegoat in the first place was because it was Teemo's bombs.. but Veigar could have just as easily set him up. As he kept yelling the truth at her she shook her head, desperately trying to shut it all out but she could not. She couldn't make this all go away with warmth and ignorance, she was stuck! “No! No! NO!” she shouted back at him, suddenly pushing him down on the couch. He was forced to lay back against a bunch of papers and books, his form crinkling her research but she didn't care. Tears rimmed her traumatized eyes, the gunner looking about ready to scream and cry and tear everything apart. One shaken fist was raised in the air while a hand kept firmly planted down on Rumble's shoulder. There was only one more thing that she had to say, one more thing that could potentially save her poor Rumble from being killed off. It was the mechanic's very last chance to take it all back. In the end it all came back down to him, the scapegoat.

☩ ☩ “TELL ME! TELL ME VEIGAR MADE YOU!” She shouted loudly, the gunner absolutely ******** furious with the other. “TELL ME VEIGAR MADE YOU DO IT....!”



███████████████████████████████████████████████
x
COMPANY x ► x rumble xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

Rumble was trying to make improvements, was trying his best to stand up and grow himself as a person, when it all boiled down to it, he was still very self-centered. He did care for Tristana, but he kept focusing on himself, what he didn't deserve rather than what the Gunner deserved. He didn't want a relationship based on a false pretense, even if that relationship would prove to be the Gunner's saving grace. He would rather clear his conscious and take Tristana down with him, than suffer in silence and allow her the peace and joy that came with having a friend she could confide in. It wasn't out of malice or hate, but his actions were that of a coward, a narcissist, someone who constantly thought about himself. But what more could be expected of him, someone who's moral compass was rather skewed by his upbringing. How something as simple as being a runt earned spurn and mocking and laughter? How his height made him a laughingstock even to his father, a man who so desperately wanted a son, but just got a shrimp instead? The only time Rumble seemed to get acceptance from the b*****d was when he helped chase and track down the Monster, helped squeeze into little areas that the adults couldn't get into to flush the Black Menace out? The only time the mocking and ridicule went away was when he gnashed his teeth and fought back, splitting someone's lip or busting their nose. He made a choice to leave home after his sisters had all gone, leaving their poor, ill mother at the mercy of a rather unhinged father, the woman not getting the care and attention she needed from her mate. He had to look out for himself. His family all but disowned him after that, blaming him for her death, that he should have suffered and stayed and took care of her, but Rumble wouldn't hear any of it. It was her fault for pairing with an alcoholic psycho, she dug her own grave! No matter what, he realized he couldn't make anyone else happy and himself at the same time, and right now he was making that decision, following a pattern that he was so stuck in, not seeming to see any other way. He had to look out for himself because no one else was going to.

“TELL ME VEIGAR MADE YOU DO IT....!”

That's where he was wrong, the Gunner already showing that this thinking was faulty. But after living with this pattern for so long, after constantly saying that mantra everyday of his waking life, 'You have to look out for yourself, no one else will do it for you. You have to look out for yourself, no one else will do it for you.' it was hard to accept it so graciously. Growing up in the rather hidden and ignored slummier part of Bandle City, he couldn't accept it. Or rather, he did accept it, that Tristana was trying to help him, but he didn't deserve it. That he was such a rotten piece of garbage, that he didn't deserve her grace or mercy, a mindset that wouldn't even be there if he had been born to better parents, or in a nicer part of town. Rather than change his thinking, than be a better man and allow Tristana her happiness, no matter what pretenses they were under, he fell back on that mantra. He had to do what was right for him, knowing that he was the true monster here, and force Tristana to pick up the pieces.

"...I'm sorry Trist. It was all my fault." he repeated again, much quieter this time around, not struggling in the slightest. He braced himself for impact, knowing that this wasn't the answer she wanted, but was willing to accept his fate. He'd never get to bask in her warmth again, feel her touch or those tones of fondness, but at least she knew the truth. The truth that she wanted to deny, to push away, but at least it was what was right....right?






"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"

[mahdu]

look at the { pretty } explosion!
☾ ‡ ☽ x Is x t h a t x a x r o c k e t x i n x y o u r x p o c k e t? x ↜↜
Ｄ.Ｉ.Ｄ ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＮＤ ＧＯ ＢＯＯＭ￠
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxx I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
xxxxxxxxxx I WANNA SHOT SOMETHING - - - LETS GET IN RANGE!
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep here we go

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

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Because of his upbringing, because of his mantra, because of the things ingrained in his mind, the Rumble that Tristana came to know and care for was being put down. In it's place stood a heartless, self-absorbed monster vaguely similar to that of the tiny Master of Evil. He had to look out for himself even if it meant causing harm to others. Even though he was making changes his core still remained untouched. If he found himself once again at the end of Veigar's staff he would not stop or even follow the Gunner if she happened to save him. His life simply mattered more. Even if there was a chance at saving her it was not worth the risk. It didn't matter how much he cared for her, in the end he would put himself before her just like he had with his own mother. This was not even a life and death scenario and yet the mechanic was still placing his own comforts over Tristana's. He threw back her emotional baggage and attached a ticking time bomb to it. Uncaring, cold and bitter, he rammed it down her throat and snapped her mouth shut. All she could do was squirm and struggle for freedom but it would never come. It would explode and it would be over. Rumble, he die, and she would find herself alone once again with an even deeper pit in her heart. One by one she was losing those whom she cared for. She desperately tried to blame this all on Veigar. Yes, the official yordle scapegoat, surely he could be used to pull this bomb out of her throat. All Rumble had to do was just blame him. Tristana would not question it, she would eat up any and all excuses that he had for her. Silently she begged with her eyes as her fist trembled in the air, please, please lie to me.

☩ ☩ “...I'm sorry Trist. It was all my fault.”

☩ ☩ The words hit her like a ton of bricks. That was it, that was Rumble's---- no, not Rumble's, but the the monster's response. She groaned, feeling all of the pains amassing inside of her. It hurt, oh gods.. it hurt, the betrayal, the lies, the wickedness.. no, no! She couldn't handle it. It felt like she was being split in two! The gunner groaned again, squirming as she kept a firm hold down on Rumble. There was nothing that she could do to try to save Rumble. There were no more chances for him to bail out of all this. She tried so hard to find something else, a reason, an explanation, something she could use an excuse but there was nothing! Nothing but the bomb shoved down her throat. It ticked on, counting down into the single digits. These were the last moments that Rumble would get to feel the Gunner's warmth. Once the bomb goes off it would all be over.. but he didn't care. It wasn't Rumble, it wasn't Rumble, this was not Rumble. “You..! You, you...!”

☩ ☩ 3. 2. 1. BOOOOOOOM.

☩ ☩ “YOU MONSTAAAAAAR!” The Gunner finally lost it. Her fist clenched and she began to mercilessly beat the other, repeatedly punching the mechanic in the face, in the head, in the chest and in the gut. Her heavy gloves smashed against his bone, breaking and bruising everything with her powerful punches. Certainly nothing on Vi's level but it certainly did a number, especially since it was fueled by her seething rage. Furious tears blinded her eyes as she savagely punched this monster into oblivion right on her very couch. The mechanic had better do more then just tense to protect himself. Her attack would not be fatal but it certainly could cause permanent damage. Each thrusted fist into his face, each painful punch that made contact with his flesh was accompanied by a loud and violent groan. It almost sounded like she was committing a murder hear as she kept up her relentless punching. Even when blood began to spill she did not stop, even when those cracks were heard she did not stop! She did not stop, she did not stop, she did not stop! The rage consumed her and she found herself lost. For a moment it felt like she was watching herself from a distance as she mercilessly pummeled Rumble into her couch. Tears, sweat and blood flew everywhere. Rumble's body was looking more bashed in by the second and yet she just kept on going. Just what had happened here? What went wrong? Before they were about to enjoy some lovely Ionian cuisine and now, now the Gunner was completely wrecking Rumble's face. She had been so happy when the mechanic told her that he believed, he believed what she had said about Teemo. Finally, finally! Now she had somebody to talk to and enjoy the warmth to it's fullest without having to worry. She had been so happy. So happy.

☩ ☩ But now she had no idea what she was feeling anymore, not as she watched herself from the sidelines while she continued her vicious vengeance. It was so strange, so bizarre, just what was going on? This was not a part of her training. All the agonizing years she went through to become a part of the legendary Megling Commandos. She was given strength and endurance. She had gained patience and control. The specialized force recognized her abilities and accepted her into their fold. Her brother had aspired to be a Commando one day but unfortunately with his passing he could not. She stood in his place and was proud to be a member of the fine force. She made friends with those in the Commandos, her new family, but also came to connect with Teemo, the Captain of the Scouts. She became a legend in the legendary group by joining the League. She represented Bandle as an Attack Damage carry, a hyper-carry as some called her. After tragically losing her brother everything was looking up for her.. that is, until Veigar began to attack Bandle City. One by one her comrades --- the ones that had become her new family fell before his feet. The echoes of his maniacal laughter surrounded her. There were screams of men and cries of children everywhere. With her family dwindling she became even closer to the ones she had around her which included Teemo. But Teemo was focused primarily on work and research. He went on long missions and holed himself up in his room, The Gunner drank herself silly to ease her worries, afraid that another would be taken away from her.

☩ ☩ Death was not foreign to the military and she had been trained to deal with this. Relying on company was stressed, company that she could easily find at the bar. Veigar continued to attack and claim her friends but she managed to hold, lifted by the warmth and a little booze. Some time passed and finally Teemo began to open up to her. She could feel the wedge that he placed between them crumble apart. The Gunner was so over the moon happy, talking with Teemo as much as she could and basking in the company that he now offered to her. But every time things got better in Tristana's life, it got worse. Now Teemo was sputtering on about Veigar being misunderstood, about him being a yordle! After the years of fighting between those to arch-enemies it seems the Hero of Bandle had finally slipped into the Villain's vile clutches. The struggle to reclaim her best friend drained her on a daily basis but she tried, she tried because dammit she cared! But it was so hard to do alone. She revealed her struggle to Rumble and the mechanic believed in her words. Again she was lifted, ecstatic, but again everything came crumbling down on her. Rumble was not Rumble, Rumble was not real. It was a monster all along, she had been lied to! Deceived, betrayed, tricked! She lost it. All the control that she had learned during her years of training had been lost for just a few moments but that was all it took to totally bash in Rumble's form. She returned to her body and stopped her merciless attack just to grab the mechanic and throw him off her couch. Exhausted and beyond hurt she panted and huffed, ignoring her bloodied fists as she glowered at the monster on her floor. That detestable thing, that vile, lying, cold hearted----!

☩ ☩ “GET OUT! GET OOOOOOOOUT!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs. She didn't want to look at him anymore! What he had done was beyond forgiveness! Rumble, he stayed to receive his beating, but even with this he was only thinking of himself. He wanted to be punished, that's all. He knew that he had done wrong and so he willingly jumped into the fire. All it did was manage to spare the Gunner's furniture as she took out her anger on him instead of her table. Selfish, weak, pitiful monster.



███████████████████████████████████████████████
x
COMPANY x ► x rumble A MONSTER! xxx LOCATION x ► x bandle; trist's apartment xxx OUTFIT x ► x commando uniform x ▼ x MUSIC


x

[magefeathers]

Ⓡυмвℓє

The Mechanized Menace

The Mechanic did nothing to fight back against her, to push her away or escape her wrath, knowing that this is what he deserved. It was a fraction of what he deserved for killing all those people, for destroying all those lives and causing just a horrible travesty, having no idea the weight he just flung back onto the Gunner's shoulders. Poor Tristana, absolutely alone in the world right now. Here she thought she found someone to share her burden with when in reality she was just given a whole new load of baggage to deal with. Her hopes of finally being able to unload were destroyed, and so she acted on blind rage and emotion. Each punch had her all behind it, each wallop and hit landing with a groan or a crack, and yet Rumble did not fight back. Her heavy blows caused bruises and bleeding, knocked out several teeth, and even managed to break a rib or two. His nose was running like a faucet and both his eyes were swollen shut in a matter of moments. Lumps got puffy and tender, the Mechanic winding up with so many goose eggs on his head he may as well have been a water fowl's nest! But the only arm he raised was to somewhat lighten the blows when they became too much, Tristana finally letting him know when she was done with him.

"GET OUT! GET OUUUUUUT!" she bellowed, the cowardly Mechanic stumbling and tripping over himself, a trail of blood following behind as he tried to pinch his broken nose and stop the bleeding. Apparently his beating didn't stop once he left Tristana's apartment, the now blind mechanic missing his footing on the stairs and rolling down them in an almost comedic way. At least, it would have been funny if he didn't look like he had been stomped to pieces by an angry elephant and possibly about to bleed out if he didn't get some medical attention. He got up again and slid down the remainder of the stairs on his butt, stumbling out of the front door and holding onto the building. He couldn't walk home like this but...but Holly's apartment was nearby. Although Rumble still had a rather nasty reputation, it wasn't long before other yordles were coming to his aid, seeing just how badly he was beaten up. Bar fights weren't exactly typical, unless of course Rumble was involved, but whoever he got into a fight with really did a number on him! They couldn't just let him wander aimlessly, even if he had brought the beating down upon himself. Of course he fought when he felt someone grab his arm, then another someone, their warmth managing to calm him down in spite of how horrible he felt. Although he knew he didn't deserve it, he needed help to get to his sister's place. She'd be able to patch him up.

"You picked a fight with the wrong person this time, hm?" one of the males helping shoulder Rumble's weight quipped, the Mechanic groaning and hanging his head. "Hospital's right down the street, don't you worry---"

"No!" Rumble said, suddenly putting the breaks on their walk. "No doctors! Listen...my sister lives in a white brick apartment building on the corner of Foster Street. Can...can we just go there instead?"

Rumble sagged a bit with a groan, even now mentally beating himself up. What was wrong with him? He couldn't even take a beating properly, but once again he was about self-preservation. That if he didn't get patched up at his sister's house, he might not make it. He was bleeding all over the place, of course the two men would rather take him to the hospital. He looked like he had been hit by a train!

"Please...she's a nurse, she'll be able to take care of it." Rumble added nasally, sensing their hesitance in changing their direction. He didn't like hospitals or doctors in the slightest, no way he'd want to go visit one when he was blind and bleeding all over. Who knew what kind of unnecessary things they'd poke and stick him with? No way, no how. But the two men seemed to buy Rumble's plea, and began to head in that direction, even going as far to help him up the stairs and assure that his sister was home to take him in. They knocked on the door and turned away when the female yordle came to the door, thanking them and ushering her little brother inside with a very worried look on her face.

Holly was the only sibling he was on speaking terms with any longer, even if their correspondence was brief and intermittent. She was just a bit taller than her brother, a rather small yordle herself. Her dark, steely blue hair was tied back in two, neat, short pigtails, the young lady tending to tie them with Holly leaves for decoration. Her eyes were brown, just like Rumble's, though her disposition was much kinder and sweeter, understanding and flexible. She sat Rumble down on the floor and ran for her first aid kit, nary a word, returning with bandages, cotton, a rag and ice packs, seeming to know the drill when it came to her brother's shenanigans.

"Who did you piss off now?" Holly asked, obviously concerned about the extent of Rumble's injuries, offering up a wet rag for him to bite down on. "Here, you got some teeth knocked out, bite on this."

The Mechanic did as he was told, letting Holly sit nice and close to him, rubbing his back and getting up nice and close, giving him plenty of warmth to try to get him through this with minimal pain, not knowing the nature of her brother's injuries. "You know, you really should learn to hold your tongue sometimes. I don't think I've ever seen you in this bad of a shape before." And she wasn't lying. It was upsetting, disturbing, but she continued to work, acting as though it didn't bother her in the slightest. Still, as that warmth sank in and his sister's caring words began to penetrate his thick skull, he found that tears were once again stinging at his eyes, the Mechanic trying so hard to fight them back. He knew he hurt Tristana, he knew he was a coward, how could he even ever think he could be the Hero Bandle City needed? "Does this hurt?"

"Mmph!" Rumble grunted when she squeezed his sides a bit, determining that he indeed had some broken bones. She sighed and applied an ice pack to his head, continuing to dab and swab and bandage, rubbing his back intermittently to assure him that she was still there.

"I just don't get you sometimes, I really don't." Holly sighed, unaware of what was running through Rumble's head. He didn't deserve her warmth or care either, and yet here he was, still lapping it up. Why did he think he could be the good guy, could do anything right? How could he....!?

"Ah, ahh...!" came a very unfamiliar sound out of Rumble, the bloody, wet washrag dropping out of his mouth as he floundered around a moment and clung to the source of warmth. He couldn't hold back his tears or hide his cries any longer, the Mechanic so full of anguish, regret, self-hatred and guilt that he actually began to sob. Holly had no idea what to do, this was something extremely strange, especially after Rumble came out of a bar fight. Normally he would be besides himself with anger, spurting death threats and snarls and growls while he was patched up. Even at a young age, Rumble tended to bottle up his emotions. He always hid when he was hurt or upset behind a tough visage, so to hear and see him cry in such a pathetic condition was strange. Surreal even! Holly's brows furrowed, unsure of what suddenly got him so upset, but she knew when another yordle needed company, when someone needed warmth, so she delivered in response to her brother's silent pleas. She hugged him gently under the arms, trying her best not to touch his broken ribs. She rubbed his back as he buried his still bleeding face on her shoulder, sobbing like a baby. Maker it hurt to cry like this, but he needed to get it out, he needed to weep and sob. So, for awhile, Holly just sat there and hugged him, assuring him it was alright, while the true victim of this was left to pick up the pieces all by her lonesome.






"Ugh, it's gonna take me forever to scrape your face off my suit!"