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The gunfire that shattered the tranquility almost ended Dirk Tavish's life. Not directly however; that wouldn't have the irritating reminder of how damned old he was getting tacked onto it. No, he almost died from falling out of his chair when the fist shots were fired. Almost breaking a hip on the floor, he caught his balance just in time with a well-timed re-adjustment of his cane. it was at this time, catching his breath, that he became aware of Trouble raising a racket in the backyard. That in and of itself wasn't particularly surprising, Trouble always did have a knack for getting himself into, well, trouble, but amidst all that gunfire... "Deadeye!" croaked Tavish. "Git yer arse oot here! Looks like we got a wee bit a trouble on oor hands!" Tavish reached into his belt, and pulled his .357 magnum as he staggered towards the back. Deadeye rushed to join him, the wartortle moving with the speed and grace of an experienced veteran. "Gah, tha's right Deadeye, goo ahead and remind me oof how old ah'm gettin..." grumbled Tavish. Shoving open the back door, he cocked the gun, and saw the machoke attacking Trouble. The sneak attack had degenerated into the machoke struggling to keep ahold of Trouble as the arcanine leaped and bucked and rolled around, trying to reach behind to bite. Tavish aimed the gun, then lifted it. Trouble, yah daft beast. Ignite yer fur!!" At the command, Trouble's eyes flared, and it's fur burst into flame, as Tavish leveled the gun on the machoke. "Deadeye, git ready...we may have a bloody fight on oor hands." He yelled into the gloom: "Oy, call oof yer bloody pokemon, 'less yeh want mae tah start shootin it!!"

Lacy hoped that it was her men out there that were doing the shooting and that it would stop soon but she had to go check, if it was a raid or something she would have to hide. Her research and herself needed to be kept away from the hands of the others. The woman was caught off guard when she heard a young voice shout 'hey' as she ran past. Lace paused and turned to see a girl struggling against the vines of a pokemon. She had better put an end to that. The redhead approached but kept six feet between herself and the strange plant animal.

"Don't move, I'll get it off, but if this hits you it will suck..."

The woman took what looked like the casing of a plastic pen out of her pocket and a little silver cigarette case as well, she opened the case to reveal a set of blow darts and she stuffed one with a red tip into the tube. After taking a deep breath, she raised the tube to her lips and pointed it at the out of control pokemon, hitting it square in the face, the dart stuck, breaking the skin and releasing it's medicine into the bloodstream.

The pokemon released the girl and seemed to wither a little, sulking away to find a place to hide it's self. Lacy looked the girl over, she was young but looked strong enough. Lace remembered the blond from some where... Where had she seen her, OH! This was one of the orphans! She was attending the same orphanage that Lacy had grown up in. That how she remembered her. The woman often went back to give talks or volunteer or visit the woman who worked there. But what was the girl doing here?

"You're from the Orphanage right? I'm Lacy. Go into the lab, and turn off the light. I'll be right there. It sounds like there's something happening outside and I don't want us to have to deal with it."

Her voice was nasily and high she was commanding though and she wouldn't let the girl get hurt. Kids like her had it to rough as it was, Lacy knew that for herself She ran to peek outside, yeah there were militant looking people out there with guns, she didn't like guns. Lacy turned off the light in the hallway and hurried back to the lab, hoping not to hear breaking glass.

Toby's mind had calmed down somewhat; that is, he could think coherently now. At first it had felt like when you bolt upright from a nightmare, only he never stopped bolting... a strong grip held him, dragged him from his bed into the dark unknown (well, he did know it well enough, but night and fear have ways of warping the familiar). He had flailed and gasped and screamed, and dug in his heels and reached for a knife he didn't have - still on my nightstand, he realized with mounting horror - but it had all been futile. He turned his head to get a look at his captor, and saw a machop resolutely dragging him along, something Toby knew they didn't tend to do unless they were ordered to do so. The machop had a grin playing across his face that quite worried Toby, as it made him second-guess as to its motivations for dragging him off somewhere private... the very thought of said was about to drive him to a greater panic, when he heard the voice. At least, he thought he did... a female voice from somewhere in the darkness, telling him to shut up. What? Shutting up is the LAST thing I want to do right now! Still, maybe it will make this thing complacent... He braced himself for another attempt to pull free as soon as he felt it slack up on its hold... it couldn't keep this up forever, could it?...

((TIME FOR SOME MOTHERF*CKING FIRE AND BRIMSTONE MOTHERF*CKERS.

Is that... too much? Siber was adamant that I start with something that sounded "cool"... Whatever the case, here it is ^_^ ))

The man now bull-rushing Lexi had virtually no opportunity to stop himself before staring into the barrel of Dirk's Magnum. He had just barely managed to snag the hem of Lexi's shirt, but swiftly released it at the threat of gunfire. Once he stopped, the details of the one side of his face could be partially made out in the moonlight: a poor tattoo job had left a raging infection that in the daylight would have been crimson and inflamed. In the darkness, the blurred image of a simple sword was visible.

The owner of this tattoo blinked once or twice at the pistol from where he had stopped not five feet away, clearly agitated by the loss of his prey. "I need the girl." His voice was low and ugly - gravel tumbling down sheet metal. Behind him, the machoke grunted angrily at Trouble's ignition, then managed to wrench the beast onto its side in a jiujitsu-style submission hold, only a small movement away from breaking its foreleg. The fighting-type was badly burned, but not about to give up his grip. "Give me the girl." The human attacker took a few quick breaths, licked his lips, snarled like an animal, and charged forward with a roar, lowering his shoulder in the same movement as he reached for a gun holstered on his hip.

---

On the outskirts of southern Riverdale, Toby managed to wrench free of the machop's hold and took off running and shouting. A whispered curse behind him signaled his kidnapper's fury, but there was nothing to be done, and besides, voices could be heard asking who was there and what was wrong from only a few score paces distant. "Get back here!" the woman hissed, continuing to give chase.

---

Back in the laboratory, which was closer to the north side, Juno was able to shake off the tangle of vines that had ensnared her. It appeared Lacy was uncannily accurate with her blowgun. A pile of coiled vegetation with a pair of running shoes sticking out of them had collapsed into a corner; the tangela had decided retreat was a good plan as the ether-numbing serum worked its way through its xylem and phloem.

A gunshot signaled that they were not alone. The shot grazed Lacy's leg, painting a thin line of red on her calf, but in no sense debilitating her. A thin-faced man had started charging forward from the opposite direction of the tangela, his eyes focused directly on Juno, wielding a pistol in one hand and a wicked but miniscule blade in the other.

Then, Alex Terrian strutted out of the shadows of the hallways and stiff-armed the man into a wall, knocking him out decidedly effectively. The newcomer immediately jumped backwards as though startled about what had happened - it really did look like he had done it by happy accident. He muttered, "I have... no idea whether that's in the rules..." In explanation, he looked up to the two ladies and raised his voice. "What I mean is, I don't even know what all the rules are." He grinned disarmingly, then swept his sable hat off his head and dropped a low, gentlemanly bow. "Ladies, name of Dr. Alex Terrian, and at your service. A word of caution - you can't trust me, but I can trust you. What is happening? I had no idea this was what he meant." By now, the sounds of the firefight were coming from both sides of the city, east and west. They had already begun to thin down, because after the initial shock, the Minutemen had quickly and efficiently mowed down the invaders.

"Oh! You're Dr. Quark! Pleased to meet you; I'm a huge fan of your work and I was actually hoping to get my hands on a sample..." He began licking his lips hungrily with a hollow look to his gaunt features and starting to walk towards the entrance to the lab, mumbling nonstop to himself. "I of course would pay any royalties you might insist on but you'll understand if I need a more proper demonstration don't you? it's customary upon purchase WAIT!" His eyes flew open and he whirled on Juno with a look of shocked terror, then pulled at his hair. "SH*T!!! This isn't happening everywhere, is it? My, GOD, I hope not!" With sudden calm, he pranced a delicate jeté, turned, curtsied, and vanished again as he came out of it and stepped through a wall.

The man on the floor groaned somewhat as he started to come to. His only defining feature besides the scars on his arms was the black tattoo of a sword on his cheek. The tangela, also, had been awakened by the spastic display, and seemed to be drunkenly considering renewing its attack.

---

Standing several kilometers outside of Riverdale, on the bank of the rushing water from which the city received its name, a figure dressed completely in black watched small fires blooming in the distance like marigolds in spring. What had brought the world to this? Even an apocalypse, it seemed, could not force humans to band together and protect one another, and so like twigs on the forest floor, they would be broken even by a scattering of deer.

The figure was disturbed from such thoughts when a black-haired, black-hatted man jumped out of the shadows. Dr. Terrian's voice quietly murmured, like the water by which they stood, "You did this?" The one he addressed only nodded. "How? How could you possibly...?"

"You told me yourself, Alex," a wavering, old voice quavered into the night. "You told me all of it. You see?" A shuffling of cloth and paper later, a hand gnarled like the roots of a sequoia presented documents to the younger man, who snatched them away and begin reading, even in the near-blackness.

"I... gave these to her sons..."

"Yes, but you made copies, didn't you?"

Shrinking back defensively like a woodland rodent, Terrian answered with half a snarl. "Yes, but just for myself; I needed a record; you always need a record; a lab notebook; something to go back on; something recorded, so you can remember-!"

"Alex."

He stopped, panting shallowly. "Yes, Reverend?"

"You made two copies, didn't you?" It was not a question.

"Yes..." The man-child looked up from under his brow, having hunched his shoulders protectively over the documents.

"Then none of this should surprise you."

"You... you don't have all of it!" Terrian barked with a gleeful hop. "Hah! You don't have all of it! Because I only needed ONE copy! And because I can trust myself that much." He hugged himself and sat down cross-legged with a pride seen often in kittens that had shredded rolls of toilet paper. "All you know is a few names," he jeered, and stuck his tongue out. "And now Iiii'm gonna wrap this up before too many people die." The man put a finger on his chin. "Maybe. F*ck you!" he grinned cheerily, somersaulted backwards into the river, and vanished again.

The other figure glowered at the undisturbed water. How ostentatious children had become these days. Only a slight rearranging of robes indicated any trace of true discomfort. If Terrian hadn't given over everything, it meant he might be far too sane... and that would be no good at all.

Lacy hissed though her clenched teeth as she looked down to see a line of blood dripping from her calf. A bullet was no laughing matter. It was then that she turned to find out where the bullet had come from, a man with a knife was rushing towards them. He was about to get a face full of The scientist's foot when a man who would later introduce himself as Dr. Alex Terrian slammed him into the wall. This was alarming enough because he seemed to know who she was. No one knew who she was unless they were also in her field of study... And most pokemon scholars had been rounded up and forced to work the arctic project mouths ago.

"I'm sorry but it's not for sale, Sir Thank you for the help but you can't go in there!"

He tried to get into the lab but had a sudden freak out when he looked at the blond kid. The man took off and Lacy was left to deal with the Gunman alone. He was starting to come to and she could not let that happen. Lacy grabbed a chair that had been in the hallway beside the door to her lab, there were actually three, but she only needed one to slam into his head before she jumped on him, pinning his arms down with her knees and taking the knife from his hand, the gun as well. The scientist used his knife to cut his throat, getting blood on her white lab coat when she did. The man jerked around before going limp, he was dead.

"Kid, get in the lab NOW."

Lacy held a gun in one hand and a bloody knife in the other moon light reflected off her glasses making it impossible to see her eyes. She was breathing heavily and there was blood all over. The Doctor was the image of madness.

She didn't feel bad for killing the raider, no man would attack to unarmed women if he was anything other then a complete waste of air, and it's not like she would get reprimanded for it. He shot her first. Speaking of which her leg was starting to throb it was really painful.

Lacy limped into the lab and held open the door for the girl, she would shut and lock it after to make sure that nothing else got in. A good lot of help Raz was, the shuckle was still sleeping in the corner.

Dirk's face twisted into a cold stare, as he saw the man go for his gun. Tavish's reflexes may have dulled with time, but years of experience, as well as daily practice still kept his hands steady and his aim precise. He fired 2 shots, one at the man's face, and the next at his chest as he snarled: "Yae come into mah goddamn yard, violate mah goddamn privacy, n' then have the ******** audacity tah demand ah hand over ae kid tae yae? Yae kin ******** off and die." Grabbing Trouble's pokeball in his free hand, he thrust it out towards the arcanine. "Trouble. Back in the ball, 'fore yeh break a bloody leg." A beam of red light shot out from the ball and enveloped the arcanine, which dissolved into it; the light then retracting back into the ball, leaving the machoke clutching air. "Deadeye. machoke's all yours. Don't hold back, kill dae ******** if yae have to." Deadeye brought his head back, then snapped it forward, firing a high pressure jet of water from his mouth at the machoke.

Lacy Pushed one of the heavy tables over to the door, barricading it shut. Once it was done she had tried to listen to kid kid but... Her voice was just sooo, uhhgh. Lacy didn't do great with kids. The girl said her name was Juno...

"Like the town in Alaska?"

The redhead took off her lab coat and limped over to the far wall that had a black counter top , plenty of sinks and was lined with cabinets, above one of the sinks a first aid kit was mounted on the wall, she took it down and sat up on the counter. It was an old kit, but there were bandages and that's really all she needed, that and a needle and thread. She had to sew her leg up. Ouch.

"There's office supplies in that drawer, marked O. S."

Lacy pointed to the drawer and got to work threading the needle. Once it was set and she sanitized her leg she started stitching herself up, each time she inserted the needle and gasped. The sound was horrible, the pain excruciating, and the sight... Bloody. Once she was done she snipped the thread and smeared antibiotic ointment all over it then bandaged her calf. She wouldn't die from an infection or from blood loss... But Lace was a trooper.

"All right, if there are more of those guys, and I suspect there might be we are going to need something tougher then a sling shot and a blow gun. We've got one gun, and one little knife. And what ever we can find around the lab. But this is just in case, all right? I'd prefer to just wait out this whole mess in here and once the minute men take care of the raiders we can get back to our normal lives... Can you shoot a gun? I've never tried. "

The woman placed the dead man's gun on the counter before scooching over to the sink to wash her bloody hands and also to wash off the knife she took from the man. It would do if she needed to use it again. It was then that Raz decided to get curious about the new girl in his lab, The shuckle popped his head out of his shell and crawled over to meet her, staying a few feet away but getting a good look. Lace glanced up noticing the movements of her not so beloved animal.

"Don't mind him, Raz will leave you alone as soon as he figures out you aren't going to feed him. "

The woman got down off the counter and started opening cabinets, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. There was a copper pipe that was about four feet long... She could use that... There were also smaller pieces of tubing but they were not necessary. The woman kept looking, finding a few knives, and some highly explosive solvents. She could make a couple fire bombs if she had too.

"So Juno, you're from the Orphanage right?