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 Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:54 pm
"No one moves," came a voice from behind Anatoly that he recognized as Rufus. He sounded tired. "Wilde, taht means you too!"
The crazed Wilde snapped at the air and received a whip to the face from a vine. He calmed slightly.
"Let them down," Rufus murmured.
The distortion disappeared.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:57 pm
"Rufus, what the hell happened at the base?" Anatoly asked, his relief evident in his voice. "Did the Guardians come after you?"
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:00 pm
"We have no clue," said Rufus. Anatoly turned to see him, and was shocked: the previously roguish, nigh-untouchable Rufus was bloodied and bruised, with one eye swelled shut and several fresh lacerations on his face and arms.
"All we know is that they beat us. Stark held them off long enough for the five of us to escape." He gestured past Anatoly, where Wilde was now standing with Farley, Kitt, and Bitong.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:27 pm
Anatoly's jaw dropped... "Stark... Stark hasn't come back...? Then he..." Anatoly went silent for several seconds. "Oh god... and everyone else...?" He looked at his old allies, seeking some sort of answer in their faces.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:32 pm
No one looked him in the face. Rufus trudged over to join the others in the line.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:39 pm
"********..." Anatoly muttered. "********, ********, ********!" He leaned against an air conditioning unit and slowly slid to the ground. He'd never known them - the secretary, the crowds during his duels on Challenge Day, the people he just walked by in the corridors, addressing with a nod or nothing at all.
But now they were all dead. These people who'd touched his life, however lightly, had been effaced from the planet. He'd never known them and now he never would.
Mike and Z as well, cut down beside ********!" he yelled again, pounding his fist against the air conditioning unit. He felt so powerless, so useless.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:42 pm
"Don't beat yourself up," Rufus sighed. "We've had enough of that. Despite Stark's orders, Wilde wanted to stay and fight. He actually managed to wound one of those bastards pretty badly, but that's not saying much. There were too many of them, and they were all as good as us, if not better."
Wilde growled and dug into his pocket. The others looked on in tired interest until he withdrew his hand, then they all gasped.
He held a small card, totally blank except for a single image in the center: an elegant blue rose.
"Took this from the one I beat," he grunted.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:51 pm
Anatoly nodded at what Rufus said. He understood, to some degree, what Rufus was saying, though it did little to alleviate the feeling. Anatoly's eyes widened as he looked at the card. "A blue rose, huh..." His face turned pale. "Oh, s**t. Oh, shittttt." He pulled out Stark's note and showed it to them. Stark Ju--ment, he came ba--
Hurry, no ti--
Find t-e b-s- of the -os- "I think what it says at the end might be 'Find the boss of the rose' or something, meaning the rose would be...." His eyes shot even wider. "Oh, s**t. Not a blue rose. An Indigo Rose. Wilde, these guys must be government, they were mentioned in those accounting papers we looked at on our mission at the military base."
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 3:23 pm
Nathan tried to imagine where the crap someone would hide. A brilliant cliche would be to push yourself into some rundown section of town, hiding in some warehouse or some junk. From what Nathan had seen, it would actually be a pretty effective way of hiding, and if he could just think of where the run-down section of town was, he could go look and see if anything looked unusually occupied.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:04 pm
Rufus nodded slowly. "I think they said something similar...their leader was an absolute beast. He was like nothing I've ever seen. I think he might have outclassed Stark..."
In the meantime, Wilde was studying the card anew. "I...think the rookie might be right," he said. He threw the card to Anatoly. "Are you positive? We might be able to find them if you're right about this."
Farley looked ready to go, and Kitt was rubbing her nose and looking like she was about to cry.
Blaine slid into the car as Nathan began to leave. The two of them cruised in silence towards the docks.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:07 pm
They did just that. Nathan, from nervousness, was driving a bit too fast.
They arrived at the docks.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:35 pm
They saw Anatoly's car, though they did not identify it as such. They, too, had to walk the last 40 feet.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:37 pm
Well, it was worth a try. Nathan got out, grabbed his keys, and began to walk.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:38 pm
A background murmur that he had not noticed suddenly ceased.
Rumble.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:38 pm
Nathan paused nervously, taking a step back. What was that all about? He waited a few seconds to see if anything happened.
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