Welcome to Gaia! ::

"If you're leavin' over this, I doubt you did at ALL." Arell growled. He needed a cigarette. He also needed to blow up IO, but it was this time, Dundee spoke up. Getting up on his feet.

"Okay, hold it, HOLD IT!!!! Nobody's going anywhere. Dammit, Arell. You're jumping the ******** gun here, and you expect it to WORK?! They're 'sitting with their thumbs up their asses' because they have a PLAN! s**t. Wait a few hours, they'll be here. Trust me on this one. We're here to prevent YOU from turning into some bloodstain on the ground . . . although Crystal's right. This attitude is something I'd expect more from the ******** lizard. Not YOU!" around this time, Dundee took it upon himself to push Arell, which with his lack of balance, caused him to fall over onto the ground, stunned that the pacifist little brother who liked Batman suddenly had been stepping up to the plate.

"As for you, Crystal . . . if you're going to leave now . . . when the guy you claimed to love kinda needs you the most? Damn, what the hell is this, some stupid a** Chinese Soap? Smack the s**t outta him, make up, and let's get the ******** off the World's Largest freakin' Litter Box before those assholes capture us . . . for Arell and I, that'd be TWICE in there. Granted, he has the shackle that held ME up at the wall, but that's another story." Dundee said, then looked between the two of them. "My biggest point is y'all are MADE for each other . . . and personally, if y'all let this destroy the good y'all have, I ain't speakin' to EITHER ONE of you as long as I live. Yes, Arell, this also counts as your eviction notice you sonuvabitch. I am so UNBELIEVABLY SICK of you constantly insulting my intelligence because I'm a little clumsy. Just remember, most the time we've lived together with the circus, I've let you AND C.J. live with me rent-free. For WHAT?! You to risk your a** and your team-mates constantly? Much less Crystal, who whenever y'all seem to be apart, you've had NOTHING but nice things to say about. Hell, y'all should be at the mall pickin' out engagement rings, not ******** starting a goddamn argument over the fate of a government facility we shouldn't be trespassing at to ******** with!!!!!!!

As for YOU!!!" he said, turning back over at Crystal, clearly fed up with the situation. "FIRST of all, did you REALLY think that Arell going 'Rambo: First Blood' on this situation was MY IDEA?! While we're on the focus of needs, you NEED to stop jumping to ******** conclusions. I'm trying to AVOI- WHERE THE ******** DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!?" he said, noticing Arell had tried to back away a little bit. The big Cajun was clearly freaked out at Dundee, who of ALL people had barely shown even a remote SIGN of anger, but here he was, tearing the two of them a new one for a squabble.

"Anyways, I'm trying to AVOID your plan from failing by working a counter-plan . . . plan (okay, that made no sense) but STILL! For CHRISSAKES!!! You two are licensed bounty hunters and mercenaries for crying out loud, and here you two are squabbling like a pair of KIDS!!! OVER WHAT?!? Arell, you GUN-CRAZY ********. Crystal, you fell in love with the ********. Now apologize. BOTH OF YOU!!!" he finished, the last three words echoing in the desert.

As Threshold and the solders with him continued the sweep looking for Blindside, the blind operative had followed Nat's and Rachel's escorted path out of the direct line of fire. In the Infirmary, Rachel had doubled over throwing up in a waste basket.

One of the Black Talons viewing this sighed, guessing that this was another kids that was a 'failure.' Carefully unsnapping the gun from his holster, as he had already had to shoot several fails from another floor.

At that moment, Helga entered the Infirmary and glared at the black armored trooper whispering harshly at him, "Nien."

As the trooper reholstered his weapon, both the Black Talon and Helga noticed that when Rachel dropped the waste basket on the floor -- that trash bin passed through the tall blonde's hands as if it weren't there. The black helmeted solder utters, "What the...."

Helga simply glared at the solder once more, and he kept silent. Helga then moved to grab a bottle from within a glass cabinet and a spoon. The German native approached the girls, holding out the bottle and spoon for Rachel, "Zis vill help, Miss Goldman. Please sit down und take it."

Helga turned to face Nathalia, "Are you feeling well enough, Miss Carter?"

Arell paused, realizing one of his guns was missing . . . Oh, for ******** sake. he thought. Well, it wasn't missing long, for Dundee whirled around and used that very gun to open fire on the bike.

"Nobody's going ANYWHERE 'til you make u-!!!" his last syllable was drowned out by the loud BANG! of the .357 magnum, one of the more powerful handguns in the world went off, down towards IO and away from the others thankfully . . . (he was trying to aim straight up, but that gun was heavy!) the shock of course, sent Dundee off his feet, Arell catching him.

"Dun!!" Arell yelped, catching him. "Are you okay? Shi- why'd you do that?!? You coulda hit Crystal, much less hurt yourself!" Arell said, holding his brother.

"You should be going after HER instead going for ME you half-wit!" Dundee replied, getting up off him slowly. "s**t . . . I shoulda used two hands . . . feels like my arm's broken." he said to himself, holding his arm. "Crys', would you mind givin' me a ride back t' town? I'm gonna need medicinal sling." he said, trying to keep composure despite the tears in his eyes. Not just from the pain of shattering his arm firing a big gun one-handed, but the way what little family he had left was falling apart around him.

And with that, Arell spun around and caught her hand, gripping it in a vice-like grip. "And you're lucky YOU'RE you. Most people DIE after they ******** with my goddamn brother." he spat. Crystal coulda done everything in the book to HIM, but she just made the mistake to end all mistakes: She attacked Dundee . . . few do that and walk away still living. He let go, holding himself back considerably, fighting the change-out.

"Arell, stop. I deserved that. Ow . . . s**t, that was a good swing. Just wanna say that before this goes from bad to worse." Dundee said, staggering a little bit. Sure, Dun' broke his arm trying shoot one-handed . . . even if the gun going off at all was an accident. "Well, this has gone from bad to worse." he mused as Arell took his shirt off and tore it, using it as a sling for Dundee's arm.

"Well, he tried helpin' and that's how you thank him. Well, congrats. I may have gotten close enough to risk my own life, but now you get BOTH things you wanted." Arell snarled at Catgirl as he helped Dundee out. Helping him down the dune he guided Dundee away from Crystal, mumbling something on the lines of "I need a ********' cigarette."

Arell took the sling to properly get Dundee adjusted. "Thanks for the sling. I'll mail it back when he's done. Keep the bike, just ******** off." he calmly stated to Crystal . . . just like that . . . their relationship seemed shattered. It really hadn't sunk in that Arell had just figuratively kicked catgirl to the curb for hitting Dundee. All the rest he would have still been fine with . . . she coulda pulled a knife and stabbed Arell in the chest right then and there and he'd still would have thanked Crystal for the knife before he died. But this . . . damn.

"So . . . this has been an interesting turn of events."

You said it. God, I hate it when s**t like this gets heavy.

"Don't blame me. I had nothing to do with it."

Dundee on the other hand winced in pain. "Wait, y'all didn't split up, did you?" he asked, pained as they walked in the desert.

Arell calmly looked at Dundee and out at the desert. "Lemme put it this way . . . I see her again, I'll be surprised. We break up, it's a goddamn miracle right now." he said with his snarl. Arell's navigations detected a county road heading into the Vegas city limits. If they can get to the road . . . it wouldn't be too long before they could get back to town.

It took like what felt was three hours and some change when the boys made it to the county road. In the distance, a red cadillac was screaming in from the west, had to be going 80-90 miles per hour. It looked like Raul Duke and Dr. Gonzo were on another trip into Vegas, blowing right past the boys before stopping.

"Hey, man. I think I saw two kids by the side of the road . . . maybe we can stop and give 'em a li-!!" Dr. Gonzo mused, before being cut off as he stopped the car.

"WAIT!!! We can't stop here . . . this is Bat Country!" Raul replied as Arell came up to the car.

((Fear and Loathing in Marvel Vs. DC?))