Welcome to Gaia! ::

Trau slowly wove the bike through traffic, the whole time blinking at awe at the city. He could feel his synapses being boosted, kicking in as he swerved left and right, carefully avoiding contact with anything. The open road was one thing, but the construction of the city- the vehicles, the pedestrians, the side streets and whatever they hid- they were something else entirely. His heart pumped hard, and he gave his kinetic network a workout as he fumbled around in his coat pocket. He muttered to himself, "Frackin' hell, Trau...I don't know what's gotten into you, you've been here before, but...this city. It's all new. The last time..."

((FLASHBACK - The Fight))
"Donald...Donald?" Her voice was clear, certain. Donald was in trouble, again. He really didn't mean to hit Johnny, the boy down the street, it just sort of happened. Johnny asked for it. Johnny wanted to be hit, Donald told himself. Johnny said that he was tougher than Donald could ever be. Donald rolled under his bed and began to entertain himself with the toy soldiers he had hidden under there. Mom would find me, he thought, but I can pretend I didn't hear her. I can pretend I didn't do it.

"Can I help you?" He heard his mother say from the kitchen. That was odd...really odd. She should have come to my room, thought Donald. Who was out there with her?

"Ist Herr Payt here?" he heard a male voice ask. A voice like thick tomato soup; viscous, but smooth.

"He's in the den...what is this about?" his mother replied.

A shot rang out, and then the sound of light footsteps down the hall. His mother collapsed at Donald's door, her eye coming to rest on Donald, pleading with him, 'Get out!"

Donald didn't move. Donald was frozen.

He heard footsteps again, this time heavy steps. A large man in a dark brown trenchcoat appeared in the doorway, looked down at Donald's mother, and grunted. He continued to walk down the hallway.

"Herr," the soupy voice pressed, "President Maeda is very displeased with your work."

"My wife...I...It's almost finished," his father stuttered. "I promise it will be done."

"No more versprechungen," then a slight muffled sound, and then another series of gunshots. The steps turned, and then amplified as they came down the hallway. The man stopped by Donald's room again, and then squatted down by the bed. He, for some reason, smiled at Donald, and held out his hand. "Come with me."

Donald didn't move. He clutched the soldiers tightly in his hand.

"Trau mir," the man said...

((REAL TIME))

"18 years, Trau. 18 years is more than enough time. 18 years is too much time," Trau mumbled to himself. He managed to pull what he was trying to wrestle from his coat into his hand. It calmed his heart, his synapses. It made him feel tranquil. He held the finger-worn soldier in his left hand as he pressed the throttle a little harder with his right.

Shooting through the Central City streets was always fun this late at night but tonight it extremely fun. Just the though taking his problems to the Twisted Blade made Threl smile. It was hard to tell which was more disturbing; The fact that Threl was smiling or the fact that he was leading Aleister into one bloody reunion. This reunion would be with yet another old friend, this one named Lanx. Lanx was the owner/bar tender of the Twisted Blade but before he got that gig he was just another solo... and a damn horrible one at that. His profile consisted of two parts: One part horrible shot other part horrible decker. The only thing Lanx was good for was company and only if you wanted to hear some story he made up about some job he never did... Either way Threl was heading straight to his cozy little bar with his buddy Aleister and that promised to make the night even more interesting.

Aleister rolled the throttle, cut between buildings and pulled out onto Central E2, he'd wasted enough time and could make a straight shot rest of the way to the Twisted Blade.
Weaving through light traffic, he went over the night's events in his head. Trying to figure out who'd have the most to gain from crashing their party. Certainly King Chromes chums would have an interest, but recording conversations wasnt their style. Of the others he'd considered, none he knew of would have a reason to act now, the other groups he'd hit recently were either still reeling from their losses, or had already played their hand. This was something else, some other kind of angle.
Aleister rode on, wondering how he'd traded his beloved street brutality for all this cloak and dagger drek.

((sorry, I need to pick up the posting... I'm taking off from this gathering))
~Leaqdstorm's Hardwired Mobile Line beeped in his ear. The Number was from an unknown source, but he answered it anyway. "They found you" is all that came across the line. It was all he needed to hear.~ "I'll Catch up with you guys Later!" He shouted over his shoulderas he ran back out into the street, in such a panic that he forgot that Scarab still had his Twins.~((I'll be back for those)) He rounded the corner out of the parking lot and began to scan the parked vehicles along the side of the street.~ "Christ Almighty and the internet what I wouldn't give for a good bike right about now..." ~he muttered to himself. He could hear in the distance the whine of the Chromers' machines whining at that high pitch that asian imports at high RPMs make~ (anyone who wants to stay can come after me or try to catch up to help... otherwise, I'll rejoin after the posts per day goes back up))

Who knows how long Threl had been there staring off before his daze was broken by what sounded like Aleister's bike. Threl figured it was his way of saying he's arrived. He took a minute to shake off before heading back down the ally he came through earlier. He was greeted by Aleister taking the safety off his gun."Sounds good to me but I hope your not thinking of shooting ol' Lanx. I was kinda looking forward to seeing him." Threl joked, hoping to catch Aleister off guard. Threl walked up to the door taking the spot to the right of Aleister. "I was starting to think someone fragged your a** on the way here." Threl pushed open the door as he spoke. The Twisted Blade wasn't much more than a bar with some tables scattered around. On this fine night though the place was alive, patrons lined up all along the bar and most of the tables were filled. "We don't have time for this..." Threl made a straight shot for the table in the far back were a couple sat and approached the male sitting against the wall. As he drew closer the man turned to Threl and began to open his mouth when Threl kicked in on of the front legs of his chair. The man fell on his stomach with a "Thump!" and it was soon followed by another from Threl's foot connecting with the mans head. His buddy was stunned by the sudden unnecessary act of violence. "Take your friend to the hospital, he's bleeding." Threl said as he sat down. The other man got up and helped his buddy to his feet. "Come sit down Aleister, these kind men moved for us."

~Leadstorm continued running, looking for a bike to 'borrow' or a place to hide. he glanced over his corner and saw the glint of the overchromed bikes, cars, and helmets gaining on him. "s**t, s**t s**t}" he muttered to himself, then he spotted an onramp to the freeway that was closed off for construction. "Maybe there's a skidster or something with the keys left in it" he thought to himself, then Sprinted across the busy street to have a closer look~

Aleister followed Threl through Twisted Blade. He'd taken his hand off the holster at his hip, but was still on edge, and would shift his eyes from one corner of the room to the other, clenching his jaw in frustration. He saw Lanx at the bar, and Lanx saw them, but pretended not to. Seemed like Lanx always had something up his a**, the gonk, but Aleister ignored him. He was too caught up in trying to figure out where their "pursuers" were. He couldnt think of anyone who wouldnt have already tried to make another move on them. He knew they'd been watched leaving the back door, knew it was a set up, so where, and who, were they?
Threl's overwhelming civility towards the other patrons eased his mood a little. At least one of them was having a good time, and as his chair's previous occupants scurried away he even chuckled a little, there wasnt anyone in this bar that didnt deserve what they got, they were all scum of some sort or another.
Aleister took a seat across from Threl and facing the bar so he could keep an eye on Lanx, they'd never gotten along that well, and Lanx always squirmed whenever he felt Aleister's eyes on him. Aleister found it amusing and did it as often as he could. He was just getting started when something hit the ground out on the street. As tightly wound as he was at the moment, he resisted the urge to leave his seat, so he trained his eye in the direction of the noise and tried to see if he could pick up any thermals through the wall. He'd gotten pretty good at making out humans from other heat sources and could even guess at how much meat they'd had replaced. He let his hand settle on his gun and leaned back in his chair, not able to make out anything on the other side of the wall he resigned himself to waiting. For now at least.

The rabbit-like form emitted no heat whatsoever, as it was powered by nitrogen. Indeed, once it hit the ground, it would be nearly untrackable. Active camouflage covered its surface within milliseconds and as the rest of the form finished solidifying, the metallic creature would literally be soundless as it traveled.
/:: Active camouflage registered. All units ready? Over. ::/
Kaeda nodded, even though the motion was not transmitted over the comm. "Green light. I repeat, green light. Over and out." She then decided that it was high time for her to get going. After all, the last thing she needed was for them to find her out. Leaving the mechanism to itself, she nimbly leapt off the roof and headed for her sanctuary.