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Post by Adelai Niska on Feb 16, 2014 1:01:33 GMT -8
Subordinate
The last thing in the verse he would have expected was the sudden movement from the companion at that moment. She brought her foot snapping up into his jaw as she slipped from his shoulder. She wasn't suppose to be conscious he though as his neck whipped painfully to the side from the blow.
The man instinctively lunged for her but then he was reeling as light flashed across his vision. He felt and heard the crunch of his nose shattering and he cupped his hands over his face. Blood pooled into his hands and into his mouth. He mustered his strength and straightened to find his quarry. As the fluid ran freely he drew his firearm. She would see things "his way" as he ran after her down the alleyway. Loud footsteps signaled his approach as he boor down on her.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Feb 16, 2014 1:24:25 GMT -8
The end of the alleyway was nearing and yet, in her state, it felt miles away. She kept along the wall, her hands grabbing at the spaces between the bricks to help keep her balance and to help drag her along as each step felt heavier.
She heard his steps growing nearer and turned toward him, holding up her fists. The effect was ruined as she stumbled to the side and held herself up by leaning against the wall. She had only one more card to play. "Registered Companion," she slurred the warning. "Alliance will have your hide."
When he took another step toward her, she attempted to swing at him again.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Feb 16, 2014 16:47:39 GMT -8
MONTY
The man ran down the alleyways in a blur. If anyone could see him they would have laughed given his appearance. His long hair blowing out behind him, his mustache puffing up with each labored breath. But he was not laughing. His crew was dead. The people that had ambushed them were dangerous and he needed to warn his friends. The only ones he had left. He had to find Mal. He found a locked gate instead leading between two buildings. He didn't bother to look at the sign. His weight worked for him as he effortlessly shouldered his way through it... Right into Inara. What was she doing here!? She was a sight for sore eyes but he was very taken aback. "Inara?" Monty blurted out. Surely she would remember him...
Something wasn't right. She was very unsteady on her feet and was looking away from him. Suddenly a man came around the far corner. Blood ran down his face and he held a gun pointed right at them. The large man sprang into action, deceptively fast having plenty of experience with firearms. Out came the pistol but the other man shot first hitting Monty in his left shoulder. He felt a slight push and a fire burning from the wound as the pain blossomed outward. That was a mistake. He returned the favor, striking the stranger twice in the chest staggering him backwards. As the assailant dropped his weapon a third round struck him square between the eyes. The pain dulled as he quickly shifted his attention back to the weary companion. He holstered his gun and let her lean on him. "Are you alright, what did he do? Where's Mal?"
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Feb 16, 2014 17:07:35 GMT -8
Relieved, Inara leaned against him, taking comfort in the fact she was in good hands.
"Are you alright, what did he do?"
"'m fine," she slurred, attempting a dismissive wave but her arm didn't want to move. "Sed'tive." She felt incredibly tired now that the adrenaline was ebbing and let her head fall on his chest.
"Where's Mal?"
"Meet'n you." But Monty was right here. That didn't make sense. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it and suddenly straightened. "Kaylee!" she said. She pointed in what she hoped was the general direction of where they'd come from but unsure, she said, "Antiques. She's hurt."
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 16, 2014 18:06:08 GMT -8
"Miss? Miss, are you okay?"
"Don't gotta be so loud...I can hear ya just fine..." Kaylee murmured at the owner of the booming voice that attacked her ears. Least she thought it was booming. Was kinda hard to tell through the drum line pounding against her skull. "Gosh, feels like my head got stuck in the compression coil." Blearily, she forced her eyes open to take in an elderly gentleman hoverin' just over her and his identical twin standing right next to him. Strange how the twin kept moving...
"Oh thank goodness. I was worried there for a second when you weren't waking up."
Huh? This wasn't her bunk...was she on the floor?
"...Now, I do hope that no legal action will be taken as this must have been an accident..."
As the two headed man kept talking, Kaylee let her eyes shut again for a moment to get her bearings. The left side of her face throbbed heatedly and a tangy, tinny taste was in her mouth... Last she remembered was walking round the aisle of the antique shop to show somethin' to Inara. Inara. Kaylee's eyes opened wide. She rounded the corner and there had been a man holding Inara and then a fist... Ignoring the protests from the old shop owner, Kaylee shakily pulled herself to her feet. There was no sign of the companion in the shop. "No. No no no," she stumbled to the front door and out into the cool air. "Inara?" The sound of her own voice yelling made her head pound even more but it didn't stop her. The world spinning around her had more to do with that. Kaylee grasped the wall of the building, using it to help her stay steady. It worked for a bit as she made her way but soon her hand shot through thin air instead of connecting with warm brick. Trying to stop herself with her other hand only succeeded in propelling her forward around the corner into the side alley and she unceremoniously landed in a heap on the ground, staring up at the still spinning sky.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Feb 16, 2014 19:31:31 GMT -8
Monty
"Meet'n you."
He was too late then! Mal was walking into a trap. But here he had Inara in a bad way and he could not just leave her there in the alley.
"Kaylee!" Inara said as she pointed off where she had come from. "Antiques. She's hurt."
They were moving, and as if summoned by her words Kaylee lay in front of them as they rounded another corner. She was staring up at the sky. "Gorramit! What is going on 'n this place!" Was this all connected? He steadied Inara and bent down and picked the mechanic up off the ground. He winced slightly as his arm starting giving him guff with his muscle working to hold Kaylee up. Supporting the two women he started moving on again. "Hold on you two, I'll have you back in a jiffy."
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Feb 16, 2014 20:50:38 GMT -8
Inara felt a flood of relief. "Mei-mei. You okay?" she attempted to reach out to help but her knees buckled. Grabbing a handful of Monty's shirt, she steadied herself. Perhaps the best way to help was to not. Monty was having enough trouble as it was when he was dealing with only her.
"Hold on you two, I'll have you back in a jiffy."
Inara stumbled along, trying her best to make it as easy on Monty as possible. It wasn't easy. She had a powerful urge to sleep so she tried to keep her mind occupied with figuring out what happened. She was too tired to attempt a verbal discussion and her thought process was foggy at best. The man hadn't flinched when she mentioned she was a registered Companion. He'd known and yet he didn't care about the ramifications. Whoever set this up had an inflated ego or thought they had enough power amassed to go up against the Alliance. Either was scary and she knew she was incredibly lucky that Monty had come along.
She briefly tightened her hold on him as a kind of hug. "Remind me to kiss you."
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 17, 2014 14:15:03 GMT -8
Kaylee started as she felt a strong arm lift her off the ground, weakly fighting against it until the two familiar faces came into sight. She immediately relaxed, doing her best to help Monty pull her up off the ground.
"Mei-mei. You okay?"
"I'm good. Just wish that everything would stay still though." All the dizzyness was starting to make her rethink the protein she had for breakfast. "Are you okay? I was so worried, I saw that guy carryin' you then it all went black."
"Hold on you two, I'll have you back in a jiffy."
Kaylee listened literally, tightening her grip around Monty's shoulder as they started moving out of the alley and back onto the busy street. No one seemed to pay them any mind as the trio slowly made the trek back towards Serenity. Something sticky and wet brushed against her hand and even in her addled state she recognized the red substance on Monty's shirt. "You're bleeding!"
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Feb 17, 2014 14:55:50 GMT -8
Monty
Kaylee gave in without too much of a fight. She leaned on the large man just enough to not fall back to the ground.
"You're bleeding!" the mechanic exclaimed as she felt the blood soaking through his shirt.
"Hasn't been the first time. The important thing is we get you both home." They pushed through the crowd and they must have been a sight, him having a woman on each arm. Monty would have jumped at the opportunity to call out the humor in their situation but he just couldn't shake the images of his crew from his mind. He wished he could be in both places at once. Lord knew there was enough of him to go around he thought. Speaking of the Almighty, he saw yet another familiar face heading their way from across the street. Shepherd Book hurried to their side as he spotted them in distress.
"Look's like you three got yourselves in a spot of trouble," Book said as he took Kaylee off his hands. "Where is our dear Captain Reynolds?"
"Likely walking into a heck of a mess right about now, I was trying to stop him on the way but ran into the little ladies here. This isn't a good day for anyone I'm afraid." Together they hurried on back to the ship, it wasn't far.
**Book, Monty, Inara, and Kaylee exit to Serenity Cargo Hold**
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 17, 2014 15:04:09 GMT -8
Something wasn't right here. Zoe noticed it right away as they reached the landing pad. It was quiet. Would be all well and good for the mission they were on except that it was that unnatural quiet that, in her experience, always came before the shootin'. Barely raising her voice, Zoe pointed out the most unnatural thing of all. "Captain, where are the guards?"
The Captain sighed and pulled out his firearm. As she followed suit, she was sure they were thinking the same thing. Could never just be easy. She fell back, covering their rear as Jayne put his brute strength to use kicking through the locked gate that would lead to Monty's ship. They moved carefully, this section of the landing pad seeming just as deserted as the one they had just left except for the ship docked in the middle of it. The door to the cargo bay lay open, as if it had been expecting them. In a fluid motion, Jayne took her place at the back as she moved up just behind the Captain.
Zoe had seen a lot during the war. Sometimes it seemed that she had seen so much that most else wasn't able to startle her. But the image of Monty's six crewmen laying in pools of their own blood, their faces contorted in horror and their eyes filled with blood was something she had not been prepared to see.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Feb 18, 2014 6:09:06 GMT -8
Mal
The captain saw it too, they all did. While Jayne backed up Mal moved forward. Not in all his years had he seen anything like this... His lips pressed into a tight line as he tried to survey the bodies, there were no exit wounds. This was not a fire fight he was sure of that. "Check them. I want to know what happened here."
"No ruttin way Mal!" Jayne protested. "Look at em, it ain't natural. Probably some kinda... plague."
He turned on Jayne with an incredulous look on his face. "Jayne they don't have the plague. And we're not leaving here without at least knowing if Monty's among them. They're not just some Ta Ma Duh strangers. Ma Shong Jien Cha." The three of them began their careful search but Mal kept his gun ready. After several minutes two things became clear. They died suddenly and from the inside. It was as if their blood had been boiled, it would have been excruciating. The second was Monty was not there. "Monty may have been the lucky one, maybe not." Something was again bothering the captain. Before he could voice it a vessel tore overhead.
Mal snapped his head up and what he saw baffled him. It was a shuttle... HIS shuttle! It banked hard and through the view port they could clearly see Wash look down at them with equal surprise. He yanked uselessly at the controls and appeared to be trying to yell something as it continued out of sight. "Zoe... either your husband just left you..." It dawned on him. How could he be such a Sah Gwa! It never failed! "...Or this is a Cheong Bao Ho Tze diversion!" Serenity needed them!
Ta Ma Duh - Damn Ma Shong Jien Cha - Check at once Sah Gwa - Fool Cheong Bao Ho Tze - Monkey raping
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Mar 14, 2014 18:52:06 GMT -8
Mal
"Captain, Zoe, we have a situation. Job's been compromised. Kaylee and Inara are down. Return-" The last of the wave ended in the sound of cursing, a blast, then high pitched feedback followed by dead air... Book. At least someone was on the ship he thought. They had been running through the streets since seeing their pilot screaming overhead. Heading to who knew where...
"Compromised... is kinda... a mild way to put it!" Mal huffed as he tried to keep his breathing under control. The captain turned to look at Zoe to gauge her thoughts from her expression. Nothing, which was good. That was normal. He didn't want her to worry. They'd get Wash back. But he had no idea what the hell was happening at the ship. The man might be the luckiest of the bunch to be away from there right about now. Speaking of, the cargo bay was in sight. The trio increased their pace, each of them concerned with the abruptness of Books terminated transmission.
**Mal, Zoe, and Jayne exit towards Serenity - Cargo Bay**
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