Post by Admin on Aug 13, 2009 0:55:29 GMT -5
Rian:
Rian came to a stop and folded his legs under him so that when he demorphed he would not be left trying to support the weight of his saddle, which was easy for a stag to lift but not so easy for a human.
He demorphed, horns sucking back into his head, cloven hooves turning into feet and fingers. Fur disappeared into skin and his senses dull. Soon he was standing in front of the gas station fully human.
He looked over at Ember and Luce, both horses, and waited for them to demorph as well. "This is the gas station where we are suppose to be meeting the Vancouver member I think. He left a few days before us so that he would get here in time but it's not an exact science so I don't know when he'll meet us or if he's here already," he added as an afterthought, looking around the seemingly abandoned gas station before turning to look towards Las Vegas and their new home. "I guess we'll find out."
Luce:
Luce began demorphing, following Rian's example and kneeling before doing so. The packs they were carrying weren't as heavy as they had been when they had set out since most of what they had been carrying had been water and food to help them cross the desert as quickly as possible, but she still didn't want to take their full weight on her back.
Once human she figured they wouldn't be morphing again to go into Las Vegas though Rian hadn't said as much. Even if he had told her they were going to morph again she would have stayed human anyway since that is the way she felt safest. She pulled out sword and its shoulder strap and put them over her head so that the sword rested comfortably on her back. She tightened the strap so that it wouldn't shift around and then reached for her holster. The holster went around her waste and once secure, she placed the Browning in there and snapped the securing strap over it so that it wouldn't fall out. Then she pulled out her jacket and put it on, concealing all the weapons except for the hilt of the sword, which was sticking up out of a hole cut for that purpose.
She left the shotgun in the packs since it would be too conspicuous to walk through the streets with. All of this was done in silence though now she turned to look at Rian. "Do we know what morph this guy is showing up in?"
Ember:
Ember was not paying attention. So she ended up de-morphing on her hands and knees in the dust with the saddle bowing her back. Fortunately the others weren't paying much attention so she managed to ditch the laden pack quickly and give herself a pat down before joining in on the conversation. "Well, it would have to be a flying morph, right? To get here in just three days, over the rockies and everything. But if Rian's right and he's already here... how do we know what he looks like? Anyone get a picture?" As she spoke she took a good look around, the hauntingly familiar desert bringing up old memories afresh.
But there was something else bothering her. And it wasn't just Luce's ridiculous amounts of weaponry.
Ray:
<<Try crow.>> Ray said as he heard question about what his present morph may be. He was perched atop the gas station sign. It held a pretty good view and was a good resting place when he wasn't circling the gas station. Since patrol in Vancouver, Ray had taken to patrolling places. It was the equivalent to his human pacing.
<<Yeah, I got here about five hours ago. This gas station was just starting to look a little old. Any ideas on where we're going to stay? I got money if we need emergency housing.>> Ray took flight and swooped down landing next to his new teammates and began demorphing.
Rian:
"We have some money too and I was thinking we should head into town. Normally animorph head quarters are somewhere outside of town but that wouldn't make sense in a desert. Besides, apparently there are a lot of free humans down there, free of yeerks anyway. We should be able to hide ourselves decently."
Then he remembered that he hadn't actually introduced himself to the unknown animorph who was almost demorphed by this point. "My name is Rian. I guess I'm the faction leader."
Ray:
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ray." Ray replied once he was fully human. He looked at each of the members after saying his name. "Well, I guess someone has to lead us." He stretched. It was good to be human again. He had been in the bird morph non-stop since he left.
"What do you reckon we should travel as?" Ray asked of Rian. "Air?" Sure, Ray liked his bird morph, but he hoped he didn't need it again for awhile. He had had enough of the constant flying. He would fly if told to, but wasn't looking forward to the possibility for it.
Rian:
"Nice to meet you Ray and nope. We didn't fly here because we had stuff to carry." He looked over at Luce and the arsenal she was carrying. He hadn't seen her use any of those weapons besides for the knife strapped to her thigh but if she was as good with them as she was with the knife then he personally didn't mind having her to back him up in the City of Sin. But he didn't just mean her stuff, they also had a small fridge with DNA and the morph cube as well as some food and drinks, though those had been for the trip here and weren't really needed anymore.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to walk from now on. We should get into city by sunset or just after. He turned and looked into the bags, pulling out the clothes he had brought for everyone, mostly jeans and t-shirts, though Luce apparently had her own jacket.
"I didn't know your size Ray so your stuff might be a little baggy but at least we won't look like bicyclists who lost their bikes when we go into town." He pulled a t-shirt on over his morphing suit and some blue jeans on. Then he pulled out his one conceit, a pair of black and white converses. Ember and Luce had packed their own shoes. For Ray he pulled out some flip flops. "Sorry about the lack of good shoe wear. I didn't want to misjudge your size."
Ember:
"You guess?" Ember raised an eyebrow at Rian's hesitation from before. As she unpacked her travel clothes she decided to make the intiative.
"Hello Ray, I'm Ember. Formerly of Beverly Hills." Her signature opening almost went forgotten, but she recovered it just in time. Odd how she didn't really connect to her home now that she'd seen what the Yeerks had done to it. Yet still... hometown pride as Luce had said.
"I'm the Brains. Luce there is the Muscle, and Rian is the Looks, so I hope you're good at comedy." She smiled at him, a real one this time instead of the one she used to get things from people. After all, it was better to start out on good terms with the new member. In fact... Ray was probably the first new person she hadn't attacked on sight. Slipping into her jeans and white t-shirt, along with some comfortable red sneakers she'd acquired just for the trip, Ember looked like a regular young woman again instead of a wanna be power ranger.
Luce:
"I'm Luce. Brooklyn's finest," she said with a small smile, both because she was amused at the untruth of the title she had given herself being a single white female from a rich family and a rich part of Brooklyn and because of the memory of the night she had met Ember.
Luce pulled her own pair of jeans out of her packs as well has her boots. She really loved the steal toed, black boots. She had had them for years. But as she pulled them on she recognized that they were a little heavy to be dragging across country. Then again she hadn't had to do much traveling up until now.
"Are we going to have to carry all of this into town or can we dump the useless stuff?" she asked holding up a 10 lbs bag of oats that fed their horse forms on the trip.
Rian:
Luce was pulling on a pair of combat boots and ignoring them for the moment so she was playing her part as the Muscle. He stood up a little straighter and struck a mock pose to go along with Ember's naming of him as well. But then he rethouht his choice."Actually Em I think we should switch titles. I'm pretty sure I'm smarter than you."
He was glad Luce had asked a serious question so that he could turn and answer it. "Yeah, we should leave that stuff behind. Let's not just dump it though. God forbid we need it again we don't want to have just thrown it away. Maybe we should find a place in this gas station to hide it.
Ray:
Ray took the sandles from Rian and put them on, glad to have an excuse to stay human for awhile. He returned smiles with Ember and Luce. "It's nice to meet both of you. New friends seem a little harder to come by these days than they ever were before." Which was the absolute truth. He had a slight feeling in his stomach about meething these new few people. Almost as if he just became the most popular guy ever. It wasn't that he was an unpopular guy or anything, it was just that there really wasn't a lot of new people out there to meet that wern't yeerks.
Ray grinned big when Ember mentioned that she hoped he was a comic. Everyone needed comedy and he usually was the guy to deliver this. In his last group, aside from Fin, his comedy usually went unappreciated so at least he would have a person here that would enjoy it. He didn't comment that he was one though.
Ray was caught of guard by Luce's stash of weaponry. He figured it was probably good that she carry some weapons, but she looked as though she just stepped into the matrix and was ready to goto war. He figured it was probably a good idea that she was on his side rather than against.
Diana:
Business had been slow. So naturally, Diana Du Pont was out looking for another job dancing her nights away. Since the Yeerks had taken over, it had gotten increasingly harder to hide the fact that she was not one of them. She didn't dare seek out employment in the casinos anymore for fear of being discovered. Diana lifted her sunglasses, squinting into afternoon sun. The desert wind whipped wildly down the street, tossing her chocolate curls every which way.
"Mon Dieu! It's so hot." The young lady wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. She again retrieved and studied the crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. The address was scribbled in a strange combination of half English-half French . Diana turned her attention to the street sign to her left. She was decidedly on the right street, run down and deserted as it may have appeared. Returning the note to her pocket, Diana continued down the cracked, dry sidewalk on her way to meet her potential employer. Part of her wondered if he would be a controller, like so many others. Not that you could really tell; that is, unless they had one of those Dracon beams strapped to their hips. Pushing her fear from her mind, the quiet little dancer pressed onward.
Ember:
Ember passed by Rian, slapping him upside the head as she went. "Too bad. I'm keeping Brains, and I'm stealing Looks." She dragged her pack toward the abandoned gas station, just barely able to heft it off the ground. A part of her wished she could have morphed out of her horse just a bit further on so she wouldn't have to lug it around. And upper arm strength was not one of her main features. By the time she got it all the way to the pumps she was sweating and out of breath, not to mention absolutely sure that everyone behind her was laughing.
"Ugh! Why the desert? Why on earth did I agree to come back to the blasted desert?!" The words barely escaped her clenched teeth, which was probably a good thing since she was just blowing off steam. She didn't want Rian to think he'd forced her into this. No, she'd made a decision and stuck with it. Besides... Vegas couldn't be all that bad right?
Ray:
"Um" Ray said scratching behind his head. "You want some help there Ember?" Ray wasn't doing this to point out that she was incapable of getting it, rather, he had nothing to carry and making Ember carry the heavy load without offering aid would have been downright rude. His old job had him off-loading trucks of freight, so he did have a slight tone to his arms. People didn't see him as this huge hulking pair of muscles, but knew that he wasn't weak either.
Ray walked over before she could respond and picked up the pack. She looked too out of breath to respond. Not to mention, she looked like she was going to pass out. When Ray noticed the exhausted look on her face he shot her a sheepish grin. It wasn't to tease her, but he still felt uneasy around the group as a whole. They may have been very approachable people, but that still didn't kill the fact he had just met them a minute or so ago.
Ember:
"Ah-" Ember frowned. On the one hand, she was perfectly capable of getting it herself. On the other... well she just didn't want to get it herself! So if Ray was willing to pick it up for her, she wasn't about to complain. "Thanks. It's been awhile since anyone's offered to carry my bags. Mostly because I didn't have any, but it looks like I acquired some things during my stay in LA. So.. yeah, what I'm getting around to again is, well, Thank you. Really."
The Gas station they'd arrived at looked dank, but it would serve well enough for an emergency stash. "Let's see if there are any fridges in the back that are air tight. That way the oats wont spoil." At least thats what she hoped. As usual, her answer to anything was stuff it in the fridge and hope it lasted longer because of it.
Rian:
"You can't steal something innate and besides you had Looks anyway, I'm just saying we should share Brains. Actually I was suggesting that I had them but if we have to share I will." He picked up his own saddle and followed Ember and Ray to the gas station.
"That might work. If it doesn't we'll just have to leave this stuff here. There is no way any of us is going to make the trek into the city in this heat carrying much besides water." JHe said in reference to Ember's suggestion eager to put down his own saddle and the water bags that were attached to it. They were lighter than the bags Ember had been carrying, both because his deer wasn't as powerful a morph as her horse and because they had drank a lot of it so he didn't have a problem carrying the bags.
"Maybe we can find some water bottles in there so that we don't have to carry these big ones. And I think we should leave our saddles for now too. I don't like the thought of them staying out here but we would look awfully suspicious walking into town with saddles and no horses. Maybe we'll be able to come back for them later."
Ray:
Ray was ready to go see Las Vegas. It wasn't far at all from here. Infact, you could see the gigantic buildings from here. He had been ready since he got here. He paced. It was that old habit he had of not being able to stand in one spot for too long. "So, I take it we still need a place to stay? Did you guys have anything in mind? I don't think Caesar's palace would be the best choice..."
Ray knew that the town was probably filled with controllers. He had no idea what they were going to do about housing. He knew for sure that they couldn't leave all of this stuff in an old abandoned gas station.
Luce:
Luce took out a folded up back pack from her stuff and started filling it with what couldn't be left behind. She stuffed in a few more shirts since they were low volume and put in some extra ammunition though she doubted she would have to use any of the guns she carried. In the past a nice big knife had been enough to dissuade troublemakers from their intent and if more was needed the person was probably a controller anyway.
Once she had emptied her saddle bags of what she needed she picked it up and brought it into the gas station and stored it with the others. Then she went back outside and waited in the shade. She too was ready to go into the city.
Rian:
After they had found a place to store all their extra stuff Rian gave the go ahead to go into the city. He wondered whether it would be a good idea to send someone up to watch them from the air but he had no idea what the animal population was like around Las Vegas and he didn't want any controllers shooting down a bird that wasn't supposed to be there.
As they walked towards Vegas Rian tried to plan what they were going to do. "I figure we can find some rooms in a small cheap hotel somewhere. We can stay there while we look for a more permanent head quarters. Whatever we find doesn't have to be nice just free for the taking. Maybe something abandoned or something small." He shook his shoulders to adjust the back pack on his back that carried the escafil device into a more comfortable position. In his hands was the cooler that held their DNA. It was fairly heavy and awkward but it didn't slow him down much.
He had thought that he would be able to carry it the whole way but in this desert distances were deceptive. He realized that Las Vegas was further away than it had appeared and he realized that he would have to hand off the freezer eventually.
Ember:
Ember nodded in agreement. "Yes, we really need someplace to stay..." It wasn't going to be as simple as it had been in LA. Vegas was spread out, a flat city stretching on for miles. But at least it was well lit, oh no wait, that was another bad thing. She heaved a small sigh and scratched her brain for ideas. "If we want to do some real damage we should set up shop close to down town. But there aren't going to be any housing districts around there..." Looking in the direction of their new city Ember remembered all the trips she'd made her before. Almost every summer break someone would get drunk and suggest going to Vegas for the weekend, then they'd all pile into a convertible and blast music, and generally broke every rule they could find. She even bet she still had her fake ID on her somewhere... not that it would matter now.
"Well if a Hotel is all we've got, then let's try to find a yeerk-free one." She spoke, shaking herself out of the day dream. "And if that's not possible, can we at least spring for air conditioning? I'm going to melt if we stay out here much longer."
Ray:
Ray didn't speak much as they walked on. They talked sense and were strictly business. He had nothing more to add to it and aided by not butting in with anything that didn't help. Ray had never been to Las Vegas before, but he knew enough to know that it was surrounded by nothing but desert. Ray was good about incliment weather conditions, but even this was a little much.
Right now, housing was the big issues, and since Ray had never been to Las Vegas before, he could exactly have good input. He wondered how his morphs would do here. The moose would be very out of place in the heat rather than the cold it was used to, but everything else should do fine. He knew he'd probably have to use the crow sparingly because the pigeon would fit in a little better as far as city birds go. No one ever seemed to notice a pigeon. Even if it was out of place. "Hey it's the welcome to Las Vegas sign!" Ray announced happily. They were there. Finally. Now if they could just find a place to go...
Rian:
They eventually made it to downtown Las Vegas. And by the time they had gotten there Rian was throughly depressed. Life in Vegas was...the same. If these people were controllers it didn't matter, they were all still doing the exact same thing they had been doing before this war. How could everyone be so apathetic?
They had walked by a dozen hotels by now and finally Rian decided that they weren't just going to stumble upon one that was advertising itself as yeerk free.
"Guys, why don't we just try that one," he said pointing to the hotel on the corner.
Luce:
Luce looked at the hotel Rian was pointing at with a neutral expression on her face. It looked just like everything else she had seen so far, bright gaudy neon lights beaconing travelers in to gamble their money and souls away. "It looks fine enough. As long as they have food I don't care where we stay."
Her stomach growled loudly, giving truth to her statement and she hefted the cooler of DNA that she had taken over carrying a little higher. The lean muscles in her arms stood out under her skin as she did so. She kept herself in good shape, but even her arms were getting tired and walking through this heat hadn't been fun and on an empty stomach too. "Why don't we just go in and ask at least."
Ember:
Ember, unlike Luce, was wearing a very distinct impression as she looked upon Rian's choice. But for the sake of all their stomachs and sweat glands she decided to let it pass for now. "Best if only one of us goes in. That way if they get pegged they can run, and the rest of us don't have to worry about another fight when we've only just gotten here."
She voiced her opinion, though truthfully it didn't seem as though much had changed in the city but the skyline. Even if the controllers recognized them as free humans, they seemed a bit preoccupied to do anything about it. And though that just made her depressed, it was better for them in the long run. They could make a bigger impact with their enemy too slow to react, and their efforts here would echo as a major support base for the the animorphs.
"Shall we rock paper scissors for it?"
Rian:
Rian looked around at his teammates trying to figure out who would be best to send and realized with some pride that anyone of them could go in. Each one of them could take care of themselves if it came to a fight and all of them were veterans and would know when to stay out of a fight. Well, he looked at Ember and Luce...
"Maybe one of you two should go." He didn't know about Ray but he had no martial arts experience of any kind. Ember had some and Luce seemed trained in something so either one could get into a fight without having to morph. Of course it shouldn't come to a fight.
"Rock, paper, scissor will work."
Luce:
Luce scoffed at the suggestion and forced the small cooler into Rian's hands, dropping the weight figuring he would catch it or have hurt toes. Then she strided off in the direction of the hotel. If Ember wanted to come then that was up to her.
Rock, paper scissors. Seriously. She pushed the door open and walked up to the clerk. "Yo, yeah you, you got any rooms open in this place?" She ignored the Hawaiian themed decorations everywhere.
Diana:
It had taken seven wrong turns and three dives into alleyways for Diana to come to the conclusion that this gaudy hotel she was currently standing in was the wrong place. There was certainly no one looking to hire a dancer here. She glanced leeringly at the peeling wallpaper and then to the plastic pineapples and hula girls. Diana grimaced.
The second thing the Diana concluded was that no one was home. Even though she dinged the bell on the counter, no one came. Slightly miffed at the lack of attentiveness of the employees and at herself for failing at following directions, Diana huffed and turned to leave. A pair of large, very large scarred hands clutched around her small frame without warning. The beast of a man tugged roughly at Diana and she yelped sharply at his prodding and he pulled her behind the front desk.
"Give me yo money and yo jewry, and ya won't get hurt." He commanded in a deep, threatening voice. The thug's head snapped up to look to the door, where a group of people were examining the exterior of the hotel. He shoved Diana under the desk.
"Keep quiet, or you die." The man said through his teeth. The bell on the door jingled, followed by footsteps and an authoritative female voice.
"Yo, yeah you, you got any rooms open in this place?"
Ray:
Ray stood outside, his arms folded. He figured it would be interesting to see Luce handle this. She had such a fiery nature that if anything went down, he was sure she would handle it. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right however. "Yeah, this looks camoflaged enough." Ray said commenting on Rian's choice of a hideout.
"Its a little more "roomy" than I'm used to" Ray said referring back to the lodge. Sure, it was a little beaten down, but it was bigger than what he'd had expected to be staying in. The town might be full of controllers, but he somehow still felt the old Las Vegas presence.
Luce:
Luce looked at the guy across the counter. When she first came in she was only concentrating on her stomach. She should know better. Now that she actually looked at him she realized that he didn't look like a clerk at any hotel, even this one. Her eyes narrowed slightly as her hand strayed to her knife. But apparently her suspicion had been noted because he pulled he yelled, "Get her!"
Two guys came out from around a corner where they had obviously been waiting to ambush travellers such as herself. It took them about 10 seconds to get to Luce. That sounds like a short time but really, as far as fights go, it took forever. She had plenty of time to pull her knife and go into a defensive stance.
But best not to hurt anyone on their first night here. As the first guy raced for her, no more than a kid really, she reversed her grip on the knife, flipping it so that she could use the hilt, and she flipped him over her hip, rapping the back of his head with the hilt as she did so rendering him unconscious.
But the move put her on the floor and one of the others decided a kick in the jaw would solve their problem. Luce's head snapped back and she was a little stunned as she rolled away from the attack. She managed to get back on her feet just in time for one of them, she didn't know which one, to collide with her in a flying tackle, sending them all back through the doors in a tangled heap.
Diana:
Who ever this woman was, she didn't pull any punches. Diana glared up at her assailant who was shouting orders with a flushed face and bulging eyes. He was distracted; the perfect time for her to get away. Pushing curls away from her eyes, Diana scowled and leaped out from behind the desk. The thug was not so easily eluded. He grabbed her wrist roughly and Diana shouted angrily in her native tongue.
"Laissez vont de moi! "
(Let go of me!)
Diana turned to face the man again, this time looking him in the eye. His fist was raised and ready to punch her in the face.
"Vous ne frapperiez pas de femme, oui?"
(You would not hit a woman, yes?)
She taunted him with such a mischief, it almost seemed that she was not at all worried that her face was about to be dented by a very large, very powerful strike. She was, of course, quite concerned. However, the thug's massive and slow arm was no match for Diana's small but quick and muscular legs. Slamming the side of her foot into his jaw was a risky move, but it was better than anything. Had he not been caught off guard, it most certainly would not have had the effect that she desired. Fortunately, he was quite taken aback by the strike and he released Diana's wrist to take two or three bumbling steps backward and into the wall.
The next thing that Diana did was somewhat uncharacteristic of her nature, but adrenaline was surging through her body and she was not thinking clearly. She grabbed the lamp resting on the oak desk with her neatly manicured fingers and she slammed it into the beefy leader's face. Glass shattered and embedded itself into the man's leathery skin. He was dazed, but no where near becoming unconscious. Diana chunked the lamp to the floor and ran to the other side of the lobby while she had a chance. She observed the impressively skilled woman deflected the thugs that swarmed her.
" Merci beaucoup! Do you need any assistance?"
Ember:
Ember's jaw dropped open. What a nerve! Luce just left her there like she was yesterday's news! Sure she didn't carry around stock piles of weapons, or have bulging muscles that could kill a man by merely flexing (Ember let that imagery sink in with a gratified smirk), but she was just as capable as her new faction mate and she'd be damned if she was left out of this. Even if it was an easy assignment that probably didnt require both of them.
Storming after her, she almost grabbed the handle of the tacky Hawaiian themed hotel before it was knocked open, three bodies hurling into her before she even knew what was happening. The thing she first realized was how heavy Luce was as the woman ended up in her arms. Well, for a second at least until her momentum knocked them over. The other men either tripped over them and rolled back toward Rian and Ray, or smashed into the other door. However, Ember didn't notice this because all she was concerned about was getting out from under Luce so she could breath again!
Ray:
Ray let a small grin appear as Ember went after Luce. Apparently she was every bit as fiery as Luce had been. How hard was getting a room? Ray asked himself. This was answered as Luce and a few other people busted out of the doors toppling on top of Ember. He glanced over at Rian and had just enough humor in him to cock and eyebrow before stepping into action.
The adrenaline poured in. Of all the animals he had morphed, it seemed that human emotions had brought him more attitude to fight than any of the animals he had morphed so far. Maybe it was because he had always had to run or be on patrol, but right now he REALLY wanted to hit someone. These were his partners, his newfound friends. Who were these guys to be doing ANYTHING to them but being nice and courteous? Ray was toned to some extent and had some experience at hand to hand fighting, mainly through scrapping at school.
Ray sprang into action, now angry at these men for having no regard for his friends. He ran up and kicked the first guy, whom was on top of Luce in the head which felt almost as nasty as it looked. Blood spurted everywhere which verified that his nose was broken. Ray had about enough time to flash a grin at Luce and Ember before being shoved back into the wall of the hotel by another goon. By now adrenaline pumped everywhere in his body...The punches that landed on him felt distant...All he knew was where the guy's face was and where to strike...
Diana:
Diana was just as surprised to see more people rush into the rescue as she was thankful. She elbowed a man in the stomach and shouted lightly,
"Bonjour! Nothing like an old-fashioned fight." She grunted the last word as she was struck in the side. Diana picked herself off the ground and turning on her heels in a manner that only an accomplished dancing girl could do without loosing even a smidge of her balance, she kicked the man who have executed the punch with great force. Diana's hair bounced into her face and she paused for a moment, observing the other fighters in the room. The young man that had rushed after the two females was strong and was taking out twice as many of the thugs that Diana could ever hope to K.O. The first woman to come in was doing the same, but she had weapons. Lots and lots of weapons.
'Mon Dieu, who are these people?'
The other girl who had gone after the first was muscular and obviously very athletic. Were these people Controllers? She had yet to see any suggestion of a Dracon beam from the massive arsenal at the first woman's disposal. They were all older than Diana, but only by maybe two or three years, she supposed.
The battle was still raging. Even though they were outnumbered, the mystery fighters were definitely holding their own. Diana's eyes darted across the scene, hoping that all of this would quickly come to an end.
Rian:
Rian felt useless. He was holding the fridge full of DNA and the morphing cube was in a back pack on his shoulders. He could afford to lose neither but...the fight. He looked around and walked over to the wall of the hotel, slightlly further down from where the fight was and put the heavy fridge down. It should be safe enough.
Then he rushed to the hotel. Of all the people here he was probably the only one not to have been in a real fist fight. He'd been in anymorph battles but never had he fought in his own body.
It hurt slightly more. He jumped at one of the guys that had toppled Luce and Ember, completely unskilled, but with his weight behind it. He tackled the guy and they ended up on the floor of the hotel, wrestling each other like a bunch of kids. In fact they were a bunch of kids. As he got a look at his assailant he noticed that the kid was his own age.
And obviously more experienced in a fight. He managed to get Rian on his back on the floor, the morphing cube digging painfully into his spine. Rian pushed against him but couldn't dislodge his weight. Then he thought of a move he had seen used on Bruce Willis in the Kid.
He wrapped both legs around the guy's torso and flipped him off, landing on top of him. He wished he had a witty comment right then. In the movies the good guy always had a witty comment for moments like these. Instead he just said, "Stay down," or he would have said that but the guy punched him in the face. He rolled off him, holding his nose and yelling something that sounded like a muffled ow.
Luce:
Luce didn't feel the fall as much as she suspected, something broke it so that she had a soft landing. She rolled over and got up and looked back to see that she had landed on Ember. "Oops, my bad." Then she turned back to the fight at hand.
She was hitting people and having a helluva time doing so. She hadn't been in a good honest brawl in a while. The guys that had hit her? One of them went flying right back through the doors courtesy of a steal toed boot to the chest. And to think, she had thought about getting sneakers while at the gas station. Now she remembered why she liked her boots.
She walked back through the doors of the hotel a large smile on her face. She sheathed the knife, making sure to strap it in so that it wouldn't fall out and then jumped in. She could have used weapons on these guys but where was the fun in that. She almost laughed when more of the goons came down the stairs. Apparently the hotel was full of them.
She began beating up guys and even a couple of girls mixed in with the lot. She saw the girl who had been behind the counter and had offered help. She was holding her own and doing so with, was that dancer's grace Luce spotted? Looked like. Ember was having her own fun and so was Ray. Only Rian wasn't in the fight, oh wait, there was Rian, getting beat up.
I like this new faction was the only thought running through her mind.
Ray:
Ray was in blind rage mode now. When the man had returned punches, Ray felt them from an extreme distance it felt like. He didn't seem to notice that he was possibly killing someone with his own bare hands by smashing the man's head into the wall repeatedly. The anger dwindled his eyesight and thoughts down to primordial survival tactics. There was no thoughts other than one. Win. He realized the bloody mess of the guy he was fighting and felt he had time to glance around at the others. Luce seemed to be having fun. Ember fine. The french speaking girl wasn't in danger yet....Rian.
Rian. Ray ran over to Rian. The man that was on Rian saw Ray coming and tried standing up. Ray was ready and met him with a swing that had all his power behind it. Not to mention the force of being met at a running swing. Ray felt the man's jaw distort from the impact and his knuckle's flared from pain. As the man landed with a thud on the ground next to Rian Ray seemed impatient. He was looking for another target, oblivious to anything else.
Rian:
Rian saw the guy go flying and looked up at Ray to say thanks but Ray was looking like he was already on to the next fight. Instead Rian picked himself up and tried to ignore the pain of his bleeding nose and aching jaw. He looked around for the next person to attack as well, even though he had proven that this wasn't his forte. Still, he couldn't let the others fight alone.
He saw the guy that seemed to be the leader of all this and decided to go after him. This fight had to end quickly or else they might all get taken in by whatever the yeerk equivalient of police were. And then his faction would learn what the yeerk equivelent of prison was.
Ember:
What the hell had this turned into? Ember thought, looking around disgustingly as her faction mates leaped on top of... who WERE these people anyway?! They were fighting, that was for sure, but why? These guys were thugs, but were they Yeerks? How could they tell? And there were far too many to capture and free if that were the case.
The thought of losing never even crossed her mind.
"Oh fine." Ember sighed resignedly and jumped back in. At first she headed to help Rian out now that she had her breath back, but Ray got there so she changed course and grabbed hold of one of the girl-thugs that had come down the hotel steps. Geez, where did they keep coming from? Nice pick Rian. Out of all the cheesy hotels in Vegas you just had to pick the one full of goons. She snatched at the girl's hair, hearing her yelp in sudden pain and remembered her fight with Kat back in LA. There wasn't much time for nostalgia as the girl turned sharply and tried to hit back, swinging and clawing in street style fighting that caught Ember off guard. The hair ripped from her fingers as she was jerked backwards by a pop to the jaw. Stumbling, her knees buckled and she hit the floor. The girl dove after her, quickly gaining the advantage as Ember was backed against a corner and only just able to block any damaging blows.
Somewhere in the back of her mind Ember thought bitterly: I bet Luce isn't having this much trouble.
Luce:
No she was not. Luce grabbed the girl that was attacking Ember by the hair, pulled her head back and slammed it into the hard, fake metal wall. She went down pretty quickly. She looked at Ember and shrugged, "Girl's kick ass. Says so on a t-shirt."
Then she turned back to the fight at hand. She saw Ray mix it up and realized that he was one of those berserker fighters. Not bad in a fight but a little hard to control sometimes. She reminded herself to stay away from him and babysit Rian who seemed to be having trouble.
Diana:
Thugs swarmed from the hallways of the hotel like roaches. Diana wheeled, grabbing a skinny and red-faced kid from behind. With her small, tones arms and a great deal of balance, she managed to lift him off of his feet and slam him into the carpet. Thud. The newbie thug's head lolled to one side, his eyes unfocused. He made a dazed attempt to knock Diana off her feet, but a swift, non-lethal kick to the head rendered him unconscious.
Finally it seemed that the rush of scumbags was thinning. Diana's chest heaved as she allowed oxygen to rush into her lungs. Panting, she looked to the side to see the last of her assumed allies to enter. His face was concentrated as he rushed towards the looming leader of the attackers. Diana held the breath that she had struggled to catch as she watched.
Drake:
Drake walked down one of the streets of Las Vegas, wondering how he should spend the last few dollars that he had. His cash supply had only lasted a few weeks since he had left his home. It seemed like everything was overpriced in this town.
As he turned a corner, Drake heard a commotion coming from a run-down hotel. Once he got closer he could see a fight was taking place just inside the doorway. A group of three girls and two guys were holding their own against a much larger group of what appeared to be common thugs. Impressive.
Drake was going to stay out of it and keep to his side of the street, but noticed that one of the people from the losing side that had been knocked out, regained consciousness and pulled out a gun. The gun-holder was lying in the doorway and seemed to be in a slight daze as he tried to aim the weapon.
Drake’s mind began to race. What should he do? This was not his fight, and it was not in his nature to help just because he could. But on the other hand, someone might be killed, and then he would have to live with that on his conscience for the rest of his life. The decision was suddenly clear.
He ran across the street to the guy who was still trying to aim straight, and kicked the gun out of his hand. Then, in a rush of adrenaline, Drake kicked the man in the side of the head, returning him to unconsciousness. Whether he liked it or not, Drake was now a part of this fight.
Rian:
Rian ran at the leader and threw a wild punch. It was his only lucky move of the night. The punch caught the guy on the side of the head and he was so surprised that he fell. In the course of falling he hit his head on the reception desk and was knocked unconscious.
Rian was feeling pretty good about himself until the backpack was stolen.
A kid came up to him and tried to grab him from behind but the backpack holding the escafil device got in the way. They grappled for a second and then he managed to throw him off but the backpack went with him. The thug tripped and fell over backward but quickly got up and decided he had had enough and started running for the door. He had the backpack with him. There was no way he could know what it held, he was probably not even thinking just running and the backpack just happened to be in his hands but that didn't change the fact that an escafil device was about to run out of the door.
"Somebody stop him!"
Luce:
Luce finished knocking out some woman and looked around to find that the fight was almost over. She supposed that was a good thing.
Then she heard Rian's yell and whipped her head around to look at the door. She saw the kid from earlier running towards it with a backpack. She didn't think much about it, just pulled out the gun at her waist, undid the safety, took aim and fired. The gunshot rang, bouncing off the walls of the rundown hotel. The kid dropped.
Rian:
Rian heard the gun shot. The running thug jumped forward a little, almost like a puppet that got yanked. Then, like puppet that got it's strings cut, he fell, just crumpled to the floor. For a second Rian just stared at the body as the concious thugs ran out of the hotel, then he looked around trying to figure out where the gun shot had come from.
Has that ever happened to you? You know the answer, he knew it had to have been Luce, but, but his mind just couldn't accept it for a second. It was like he was looking for some other explanation, something that didn't mean that one of his faction mates had just shot someone in the back.
He saw Luce standing with the gun.
Drake:
Drake’s gut wrenched when he heard the sound of a gunshot. For a moment he thought it had come from the gun that he kicked away, but quickly realized that the sound had come from inside the building. He stood outside next to the door as the remaining goons scrambled out of the hotel, and considered running away as well.
In the end Drake decided to risk a peek into the building. As he stuck his head around the side of the doorway he cringed at the sight of the person who had been shot, lying facedown in a pool of his own blood. “Are you guys alright?” he finally managed to ask, holding back his own urge to vomit.
Ray:
Ray was already tense enough as it was being in fight mode and all, but the sound of the gunshot made him about as still as a statue. The sound was ringing in his ears. He looked over to see Luce holding a gun and what a believed was an accomplished look. The thugs decided enough was enough, and at least were smart enough to know that if one guy died, they might as well save themselves.
Ray took in a few deep breaths trying to calm himself. It was over and there was to be no more fighting. Just as the last few piled out one guy had the nerve to come back in. Wait, he didn't look like he was a part of the thugs at all. He asked if they were...all right? This almost went over Ray's head because of all the action that had just happened. "Um, Yeah, I think so." Ray replied hoping this wasn't another potential enemy. Ray looked around at his teammates. He didn't know what to think of the newcomer's presence.
Rian:
Rian walked over to the dead body not paying attention to the kid who had come through the door. He just stared for a second and then he turned on Luce. He had known that she carried weapons and intellectually he had even agreed with her reasons but that was a lot different than seeing her shoot someone almost in cold blood.
"Why did you do that! I said stop him, not kill him. You didn't have to kill him." Rian looked down at the body and noticed that it was just a kid a kid their own age, maybe younger. He had killed people before but this felt wrong. "You didn't have to kill him," he almost whispered.
Luce:
Luce reset the safety and holstered the gun. She walked over to the body and knelt down and turned it over. There was a gray, slimy goo that seemed to be coming from the bullet hole in the kid's forehead. She reached down and grabbed as much of the slimy stuff as possible and yanked. The dying yeerk came free in her hands and she crushed it before dropping the mess back on the floor. She wiped her hands on the kid's shirt. He was better off dead than a controller anyway.
She picked up the bag holding the escafil device and shoved it into Rian's hands, almost angrily. "Next time specify." Then she grabbed a handful of the dead kid's shirt and began dragging the body out of the door. If she knew yeerk infested city, and she figured she did, then this kid would make a nice Taxxon snack.
Diana:
All Diana knew was the someone had been shot over a stolen backpack. And that they were now very dead; as so was the yeerk that slide out of the kid's forehead and onto the ground. By the way that the others treated the slug, Diana was now more than convinced that this band of teenagers were not controllers. The young French girl stood, stiffly fidgeting with her clothes, and looked at the display. The fight was over. Suddenly a great wave of aches washed over her small frame and Diana could feel her legs weaken. She allowed herself to fall to her knees.
Diana took a moment to catch her breath and sort her thoughts, wondering what would happen to her now.
Drake:
A new wave of queasiness washed over Drake as he watched the armed woman pull the slug out of the kid’s forehead and then proceed to drag the body past him out the door. Despite his initial shock, Drake realized this event was a good thing. They killed a controller so that must mean they are fighting the yeerks. If he played his cards right, maybe this group of people could help him get back at the yeerks for making his parents into controllers.
Judging by how one of the team members reacted to the shooting, it seemed like this was not their usual behavior. I sure hope it isn’t, Drake thought to himself, Here goes nothing. “So are you guys yeerk fighters or something?” he asked sheepishly, “Because I was hoping someone could teach me how to become one.”
That was not exactly true. Drake honestly did want to hurt the yeerks any way possible, but he could not picture himself getting into fights like this all the time. But who knows, maybe they would need someone to be a lookout or carry their bags or something.
Drake:
Ray was bothered that someone had been killed, but it felt odd that he didn't feel worse than he thought he should have. It was a bloody mess, and one that would take a lot of time to clean up and cover up. Other than that, he didn't feel too bothered, although that still was a human life that was taken. He felt for the kid, seeing as how he was around the same age as the rest of them. Ray saw the french speaking girl fall to her knees and after a second of being trapped in reality he shook his head and headed over to help her up offer her his hand. She had helped them fight, and it was the very least he could do to repay her. "Etes-vous blesse?" He asked of her, grinning inside from taking french in high school.
He listened to the newcomer question them about yeerk fighting. He looked over at him sizing him up. They definently could be gaining numbers from this...The guy did seem oblivious enough not to be a yeerk and eager enough to join the cause. He hoped the girl did too seeing as how that's probably where she was headed too. He couldn't resist a grin at the inquiry and replied, "We'll man, lets just say that this little club beats the crap out of the army in that, in here, the phrase 'be all that you can be' gets taken to a WHOLE new level..."
Diana:
"Etes-vous blesse?" The dark haired fighter had asked as he helped Diana back to her feet. She grinned at his French.
"Non. Just some bruises." Diana listened to their conversation about fighting the Yeerks. The thought had never really occurred to her. Heck, she had even considered fighting them. What she had done here was self-defense. But then, she though, what was she really doing? Living a meaningless existence in the shadows hoping to remain unseen by an invading enemy while performing on stage? Suddenly Diana felt as though her life did not make sense.
"We'll man, lets just say that this little club beats the crap out of the army in that, in here, the phrase 'be all that you can be' gets taken to a WHOLE new level..."
Diana searched her memory . These were the Animorphs. He mind went to a news clipping she'd seen blowing in the wind. Diana Du Pont smiled.
Ember:
Ember stood in shock. What the hell had happened? And she thought things like this only happened in LA.. where everything is fake anyway. She wanted to SCREAM, to yell, to shout 'Luce just killed someone!' but... no one would care... Ray was talking to people, survivors? He didn't look bothered, he maybe even looked glad that he'd had the chance to fight... He certainly didn't look at the corpse Luce was.. was... Ember's mind wouldn't work. She stood, her back against the wall, mouth agape, unable to process what had happened. The controller didn't deserve to die for that. The kid didn't even know what he'd had... it wasn't even clear he was a controller! How could she have... how could she have admired such a woman? Felt challenged by her? Now all Ember felt was a sickening disgust.
No.. no, can't be overwhelmed... can't let the others see you... Her thoughts trailed in and out like a radio barely tuned.
Ray. Ray was chatting. French? A French girl and a boy who had helped in the fight. Yes. They were fine. They didn't understand that... that controllers were still human... They were like her before she found out. Happily oblivious. They couldn't know that controllers could be freed, and were still human inside, but prisoners to the yeerks. There was no need to kill them like- like that... Her faction mates stood chatting. Calmly. Out of breath but fine, not so much as a scratch. The controllers... should she pity them? No. And yet, seeing the puddle of blood that was being slowly smeared across the carpet... Ember had killed before. Yes. She'd taken risks, hurt people, killed people. But because there was no choice. Her faction had been in trouble... And even then it wasn't her direct action that killed... killed... WASN'T THERE ENOUGH DEATH?! Her fists, so numb, tried to clench but had no feeling to motivate them. Why shouldn't she shout? Why shouldn't she feel anger at that- that stupid girl with that stupid gun!
Ember's mind flashed to Kat and her anger at Luce faded. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't any of their faults that they'd been driven to this. Death was common. Us.. or Them. Right? It must be that black and white. Right? Otherwise.. otherwise how could they keep fighting? Eventually their goodness would cripple them, make them hesitate, and their enemies would not have such restraint. No... We must be like them to defeat them... Right? Right??
She found all this, in the space of a few breaths, and suddenly wanted to find a room to lock herself in. "I..." No, can't let them know you're weak. Forget it for now, deal with it later. Ember's jaw set slightly, shoulders squaring, and she changed the tack of her sentence within a moment, "I need a glass of water. First the desert and now a fist fight? Tch! This place is awful already! LA was much more civilized even with the yeerks. I can't believe I followed you here Ri-" Her eyes caught sight of his and the wind knocked the life out of her.
Rian:
Rian looked back at Ember sadly. For a second he could see that she felt the same way about this that he did but then it was gone, covered and buried like so many of their emotions, victims to the strong face they had to show. Especially him. He was a faction leader now and Luce was right. He had known who she was, what she was and he had foolishly yelled out an order. She had followed it. Next time he would have to specify.
He put the backpack back on and tried to shake it off. He looked around. Luce was taking care of the body but that still left all the other controllers they had knocked out. Plus they still needed a place to sleep and there were two new people here.
"Alright, what's done is done. Ray, can you go outside and get the freezer. Bring it in here. I think we found a place to stay, maybe permanently since this place seemed to belong to them and I don't think they'll be coming back soon. Can you also tell Luce I want to talk to her when she's done and then start dragging these thugs somewhere where they can be held for three days. I'll help as soon as I'm done."
He turned to the girl and boy that had somehow shown up. Both had fought with him and the others. That didn't mean they were free and even if they were it didn't mean that they were to be trusted. If there was any place that proved that humans had plenty of evil inside them without the help of aliens it was Las Vegas. "Thank you for your help," he said to both, "but I'm afraid that we will have to hold onto you for a while. As you can see," he said motioning towards the blood stain on the floor, "we have secrets worth killing over. But we only have to hold you for three days, after that your freedom is guaranteed. We fight yeerks, hopefully you know what those are," he said knowing the young man had shown he had but not sure about the french girl. "If you would like to join us after three days you are welcome to," he said looking at the boy who had asked to join them. After three days, the human in them would be able to chose, even if they were controllers now. He smiled, a little sadly but honestly friendly.
He looked at Ember. He wanted to just go somewhere and talk about all this but they couldn't right now. "Can you please escort our guests to a room and make sure they stay there? Answer any questions they have but make sure they don't get away." He looked at the door that Luce had disappeared through. "Make sure they don't escape, any means necessary though hopefully it won't come to that. I'm going to find a place to hide this," he said holding up the backpack, "and the cooler. Then I'll set up a watch schedule so that we can all get some rest and hopefully they have food somewhere in here. But before all of that can I ask your names?" he said, looking at the two who weren't his faction mates.
Diana:
Diana listened intently to this young man, who she decided was the leader of this band, realizing that she would have to sit in some hotel room for three days without leaving. The thought was unsettling to the otherwise active dancer. The thought of joining them, was, however quite pleasant. Diana would endure if it meant becoming something more than what she was now.
"...But before all of that can I ask your names?"
Diana tuned into his voice, switching over from her thoughts. She dipped her head in respect and with a smile, answered, "Bonjour, I am Diana Du Pont."
Drake:
"And I am Drake Blear," he said, "I'll sit and wait for three days in order to prove myself. It's not like I was doing anything more important anyway. I am homeless at the moment." Drake was not sure if these strangers waned to know about the intricate details of his life, so he decided to stop there.
It was obvious that one giving out the orders was in charge, and the others were his followers of some sort. Except for the French girl. It seemed like they just met her as well. This surprised Drake since she had been fighting so well alongside the others as if they had all been in the same group for years. Then Drake's thoughts drifted towards the freezer and the backpack. What could they have in them that was so important?
Diana:
"Diana and Drake. Welcome to the club." Ember managed to keep most of the sarcasm out of her voice. "Ok then, since we've introductions all around..." She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, "you can follow me to your new room. I'll try to pick a pretty one since you'll have to stare at the walls for three days." She knew her words were weak efforts to alleviate the tension that still choked her gut, but they helped a little... and that was enough.
"And" She added before they started, "In case you were dying to know, my name is Ember Rosalind, formerly of Beverly Hills." Her shoulder dipped as she took a small step back, letting them take her in like a celebrity at the red carpet. For awhile she felt normal again. And then she continued, "I'm not afraid to take severe action against you if you try to run or don't cooperate. If we can all get along and keep our promises to play nice... then I don't have to apply these to your face." Ember held up her hand and watched with a kind of fascinated smugness at the two new people's expressions. Her nails, recently painted red before her departure from LA, started to... move. Firstly inwards as her knuckles firmed, becoming thicker and growing thick peach fuzz hair on the joints, then sharp needle points curled upwards into a very cool effect that imitated Tim Burton's catwoman claws. Ember wiggled her fingers, not showing the immense amount of concentration it took for her to hold it there. It took a better part of fifteen seconds, but it felt like eternity by the time she released and let the human fingers flood back over the bones.
That should raise some questions, she thought to herself, letting a smirk run loose upon her lips.
Ray:
Ray nodded at Rian confirming his orders had been received. He shot a look at Diana and Drake before walking towards the door. "Oh yeah, and I'm Ray!" he called just before he got out the door. "Have fun playing statue!" He grinned sheepishly after knowing he probably added nervousness to the newcomers. Outside he found Luce still dragging the body. Damn it was a mess...Poor kid. "Hey Luce" he said gaining her attention. "Rian wants a word with you." Ray's voice didn't insinuate anything because quite frankly, he had no idea what Rian wanted her for.
Ray rounded around to the freezer full of blood samples. He picked it up and, while trying to avoid looking at the dead body again, he made his way back inside. The room was now minus three people. Ember, Drake, and Diana were gone. "We'll, it's a whole hell of a lot of room. More than I'm used to anyway." He said to Rian has he entered. "Where would you like the loot cap'n?"
Luce:
Luce dragged the body into an alley and looked around for a sewer grate. Taxxons tended to like the tunnels though they did travel above ground. Still, she was guessing that in a place like this, that seemed to be a mostly human occupied city, they would keep a low profile.
She finally found a sewer grate but realized that she had left any sort of tool that she could have used as leverage in her bags. She didn't want to leave the body so close to the hotel but she couldn't easily dump it either. She settled for the lesser evil and dragged it slightly further away. She took the precaution of using an empty can to collect some of the blood and spread it around to attract the Taxxons faster. The body wouldn't survive till morning.
She headed back the way she'd come.
Rian came to a stop and folded his legs under him so that when he demorphed he would not be left trying to support the weight of his saddle, which was easy for a stag to lift but not so easy for a human.
He demorphed, horns sucking back into his head, cloven hooves turning into feet and fingers. Fur disappeared into skin and his senses dull. Soon he was standing in front of the gas station fully human.
He looked over at Ember and Luce, both horses, and waited for them to demorph as well. "This is the gas station where we are suppose to be meeting the Vancouver member I think. He left a few days before us so that he would get here in time but it's not an exact science so I don't know when he'll meet us or if he's here already," he added as an afterthought, looking around the seemingly abandoned gas station before turning to look towards Las Vegas and their new home. "I guess we'll find out."
Luce:
Luce began demorphing, following Rian's example and kneeling before doing so. The packs they were carrying weren't as heavy as they had been when they had set out since most of what they had been carrying had been water and food to help them cross the desert as quickly as possible, but she still didn't want to take their full weight on her back.
Once human she figured they wouldn't be morphing again to go into Las Vegas though Rian hadn't said as much. Even if he had told her they were going to morph again she would have stayed human anyway since that is the way she felt safest. She pulled out sword and its shoulder strap and put them over her head so that the sword rested comfortably on her back. She tightened the strap so that it wouldn't shift around and then reached for her holster. The holster went around her waste and once secure, she placed the Browning in there and snapped the securing strap over it so that it wouldn't fall out. Then she pulled out her jacket and put it on, concealing all the weapons except for the hilt of the sword, which was sticking up out of a hole cut for that purpose.
She left the shotgun in the packs since it would be too conspicuous to walk through the streets with. All of this was done in silence though now she turned to look at Rian. "Do we know what morph this guy is showing up in?"
Ember:
Ember was not paying attention. So she ended up de-morphing on her hands and knees in the dust with the saddle bowing her back. Fortunately the others weren't paying much attention so she managed to ditch the laden pack quickly and give herself a pat down before joining in on the conversation. "Well, it would have to be a flying morph, right? To get here in just three days, over the rockies and everything. But if Rian's right and he's already here... how do we know what he looks like? Anyone get a picture?" As she spoke she took a good look around, the hauntingly familiar desert bringing up old memories afresh.
But there was something else bothering her. And it wasn't just Luce's ridiculous amounts of weaponry.
Ray:
<<Try crow.>> Ray said as he heard question about what his present morph may be. He was perched atop the gas station sign. It held a pretty good view and was a good resting place when he wasn't circling the gas station. Since patrol in Vancouver, Ray had taken to patrolling places. It was the equivalent to his human pacing.
<<Yeah, I got here about five hours ago. This gas station was just starting to look a little old. Any ideas on where we're going to stay? I got money if we need emergency housing.>> Ray took flight and swooped down landing next to his new teammates and began demorphing.
Rian:
"We have some money too and I was thinking we should head into town. Normally animorph head quarters are somewhere outside of town but that wouldn't make sense in a desert. Besides, apparently there are a lot of free humans down there, free of yeerks anyway. We should be able to hide ourselves decently."
Then he remembered that he hadn't actually introduced himself to the unknown animorph who was almost demorphed by this point. "My name is Rian. I guess I'm the faction leader."
Ray:
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ray." Ray replied once he was fully human. He looked at each of the members after saying his name. "Well, I guess someone has to lead us." He stretched. It was good to be human again. He had been in the bird morph non-stop since he left.
"What do you reckon we should travel as?" Ray asked of Rian. "Air?" Sure, Ray liked his bird morph, but he hoped he didn't need it again for awhile. He had had enough of the constant flying. He would fly if told to, but wasn't looking forward to the possibility for it.
Rian:
"Nice to meet you Ray and nope. We didn't fly here because we had stuff to carry." He looked over at Luce and the arsenal she was carrying. He hadn't seen her use any of those weapons besides for the knife strapped to her thigh but if she was as good with them as she was with the knife then he personally didn't mind having her to back him up in the City of Sin. But he didn't just mean her stuff, they also had a small fridge with DNA and the morph cube as well as some food and drinks, though those had been for the trip here and weren't really needed anymore.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to walk from now on. We should get into city by sunset or just after. He turned and looked into the bags, pulling out the clothes he had brought for everyone, mostly jeans and t-shirts, though Luce apparently had her own jacket.
"I didn't know your size Ray so your stuff might be a little baggy but at least we won't look like bicyclists who lost their bikes when we go into town." He pulled a t-shirt on over his morphing suit and some blue jeans on. Then he pulled out his one conceit, a pair of black and white converses. Ember and Luce had packed their own shoes. For Ray he pulled out some flip flops. "Sorry about the lack of good shoe wear. I didn't want to misjudge your size."
Ember:
"You guess?" Ember raised an eyebrow at Rian's hesitation from before. As she unpacked her travel clothes she decided to make the intiative.
"Hello Ray, I'm Ember. Formerly of Beverly Hills." Her signature opening almost went forgotten, but she recovered it just in time. Odd how she didn't really connect to her home now that she'd seen what the Yeerks had done to it. Yet still... hometown pride as Luce had said.
"I'm the Brains. Luce there is the Muscle, and Rian is the Looks, so I hope you're good at comedy." She smiled at him, a real one this time instead of the one she used to get things from people. After all, it was better to start out on good terms with the new member. In fact... Ray was probably the first new person she hadn't attacked on sight. Slipping into her jeans and white t-shirt, along with some comfortable red sneakers she'd acquired just for the trip, Ember looked like a regular young woman again instead of a wanna be power ranger.
Luce:
"I'm Luce. Brooklyn's finest," she said with a small smile, both because she was amused at the untruth of the title she had given herself being a single white female from a rich family and a rich part of Brooklyn and because of the memory of the night she had met Ember.
Luce pulled her own pair of jeans out of her packs as well has her boots. She really loved the steal toed, black boots. She had had them for years. But as she pulled them on she recognized that they were a little heavy to be dragging across country. Then again she hadn't had to do much traveling up until now.
"Are we going to have to carry all of this into town or can we dump the useless stuff?" she asked holding up a 10 lbs bag of oats that fed their horse forms on the trip.
Rian:
Luce was pulling on a pair of combat boots and ignoring them for the moment so she was playing her part as the Muscle. He stood up a little straighter and struck a mock pose to go along with Ember's naming of him as well. But then he rethouht his choice."Actually Em I think we should switch titles. I'm pretty sure I'm smarter than you."
He was glad Luce had asked a serious question so that he could turn and answer it. "Yeah, we should leave that stuff behind. Let's not just dump it though. God forbid we need it again we don't want to have just thrown it away. Maybe we should find a place in this gas station to hide it.
Ray:
Ray took the sandles from Rian and put them on, glad to have an excuse to stay human for awhile. He returned smiles with Ember and Luce. "It's nice to meet both of you. New friends seem a little harder to come by these days than they ever were before." Which was the absolute truth. He had a slight feeling in his stomach about meething these new few people. Almost as if he just became the most popular guy ever. It wasn't that he was an unpopular guy or anything, it was just that there really wasn't a lot of new people out there to meet that wern't yeerks.
Ray grinned big when Ember mentioned that she hoped he was a comic. Everyone needed comedy and he usually was the guy to deliver this. In his last group, aside from Fin, his comedy usually went unappreciated so at least he would have a person here that would enjoy it. He didn't comment that he was one though.
Ray was caught of guard by Luce's stash of weaponry. He figured it was probably good that she carry some weapons, but she looked as though she just stepped into the matrix and was ready to goto war. He figured it was probably a good idea that she was on his side rather than against.
Diana:
Business had been slow. So naturally, Diana Du Pont was out looking for another job dancing her nights away. Since the Yeerks had taken over, it had gotten increasingly harder to hide the fact that she was not one of them. She didn't dare seek out employment in the casinos anymore for fear of being discovered. Diana lifted her sunglasses, squinting into afternoon sun. The desert wind whipped wildly down the street, tossing her chocolate curls every which way.
"Mon Dieu! It's so hot." The young lady wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. She again retrieved and studied the crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. The address was scribbled in a strange combination of half English-half French . Diana turned her attention to the street sign to her left. She was decidedly on the right street, run down and deserted as it may have appeared. Returning the note to her pocket, Diana continued down the cracked, dry sidewalk on her way to meet her potential employer. Part of her wondered if he would be a controller, like so many others. Not that you could really tell; that is, unless they had one of those Dracon beams strapped to their hips. Pushing her fear from her mind, the quiet little dancer pressed onward.
Ember:
Ember passed by Rian, slapping him upside the head as she went. "Too bad. I'm keeping Brains, and I'm stealing Looks." She dragged her pack toward the abandoned gas station, just barely able to heft it off the ground. A part of her wished she could have morphed out of her horse just a bit further on so she wouldn't have to lug it around. And upper arm strength was not one of her main features. By the time she got it all the way to the pumps she was sweating and out of breath, not to mention absolutely sure that everyone behind her was laughing.
"Ugh! Why the desert? Why on earth did I agree to come back to the blasted desert?!" The words barely escaped her clenched teeth, which was probably a good thing since she was just blowing off steam. She didn't want Rian to think he'd forced her into this. No, she'd made a decision and stuck with it. Besides... Vegas couldn't be all that bad right?
Ray:
"Um" Ray said scratching behind his head. "You want some help there Ember?" Ray wasn't doing this to point out that she was incapable of getting it, rather, he had nothing to carry and making Ember carry the heavy load without offering aid would have been downright rude. His old job had him off-loading trucks of freight, so he did have a slight tone to his arms. People didn't see him as this huge hulking pair of muscles, but knew that he wasn't weak either.
Ray walked over before she could respond and picked up the pack. She looked too out of breath to respond. Not to mention, she looked like she was going to pass out. When Ray noticed the exhausted look on her face he shot her a sheepish grin. It wasn't to tease her, but he still felt uneasy around the group as a whole. They may have been very approachable people, but that still didn't kill the fact he had just met them a minute or so ago.
Ember:
"Ah-" Ember frowned. On the one hand, she was perfectly capable of getting it herself. On the other... well she just didn't want to get it herself! So if Ray was willing to pick it up for her, she wasn't about to complain. "Thanks. It's been awhile since anyone's offered to carry my bags. Mostly because I didn't have any, but it looks like I acquired some things during my stay in LA. So.. yeah, what I'm getting around to again is, well, Thank you. Really."
The Gas station they'd arrived at looked dank, but it would serve well enough for an emergency stash. "Let's see if there are any fridges in the back that are air tight. That way the oats wont spoil." At least thats what she hoped. As usual, her answer to anything was stuff it in the fridge and hope it lasted longer because of it.
Rian:
"You can't steal something innate and besides you had Looks anyway, I'm just saying we should share Brains. Actually I was suggesting that I had them but if we have to share I will." He picked up his own saddle and followed Ember and Ray to the gas station.
"That might work. If it doesn't we'll just have to leave this stuff here. There is no way any of us is going to make the trek into the city in this heat carrying much besides water." JHe said in reference to Ember's suggestion eager to put down his own saddle and the water bags that were attached to it. They were lighter than the bags Ember had been carrying, both because his deer wasn't as powerful a morph as her horse and because they had drank a lot of it so he didn't have a problem carrying the bags.
"Maybe we can find some water bottles in there so that we don't have to carry these big ones. And I think we should leave our saddles for now too. I don't like the thought of them staying out here but we would look awfully suspicious walking into town with saddles and no horses. Maybe we'll be able to come back for them later."
Ray:
Ray was ready to go see Las Vegas. It wasn't far at all from here. Infact, you could see the gigantic buildings from here. He had been ready since he got here. He paced. It was that old habit he had of not being able to stand in one spot for too long. "So, I take it we still need a place to stay? Did you guys have anything in mind? I don't think Caesar's palace would be the best choice..."
Ray knew that the town was probably filled with controllers. He had no idea what they were going to do about housing. He knew for sure that they couldn't leave all of this stuff in an old abandoned gas station.
Luce:
Luce took out a folded up back pack from her stuff and started filling it with what couldn't be left behind. She stuffed in a few more shirts since they were low volume and put in some extra ammunition though she doubted she would have to use any of the guns she carried. In the past a nice big knife had been enough to dissuade troublemakers from their intent and if more was needed the person was probably a controller anyway.
Once she had emptied her saddle bags of what she needed she picked it up and brought it into the gas station and stored it with the others. Then she went back outside and waited in the shade. She too was ready to go into the city.
Rian:
After they had found a place to store all their extra stuff Rian gave the go ahead to go into the city. He wondered whether it would be a good idea to send someone up to watch them from the air but he had no idea what the animal population was like around Las Vegas and he didn't want any controllers shooting down a bird that wasn't supposed to be there.
As they walked towards Vegas Rian tried to plan what they were going to do. "I figure we can find some rooms in a small cheap hotel somewhere. We can stay there while we look for a more permanent head quarters. Whatever we find doesn't have to be nice just free for the taking. Maybe something abandoned or something small." He shook his shoulders to adjust the back pack on his back that carried the escafil device into a more comfortable position. In his hands was the cooler that held their DNA. It was fairly heavy and awkward but it didn't slow him down much.
He had thought that he would be able to carry it the whole way but in this desert distances were deceptive. He realized that Las Vegas was further away than it had appeared and he realized that he would have to hand off the freezer eventually.
Ember:
Ember nodded in agreement. "Yes, we really need someplace to stay..." It wasn't going to be as simple as it had been in LA. Vegas was spread out, a flat city stretching on for miles. But at least it was well lit, oh no wait, that was another bad thing. She heaved a small sigh and scratched her brain for ideas. "If we want to do some real damage we should set up shop close to down town. But there aren't going to be any housing districts around there..." Looking in the direction of their new city Ember remembered all the trips she'd made her before. Almost every summer break someone would get drunk and suggest going to Vegas for the weekend, then they'd all pile into a convertible and blast music, and generally broke every rule they could find. She even bet she still had her fake ID on her somewhere... not that it would matter now.
"Well if a Hotel is all we've got, then let's try to find a yeerk-free one." She spoke, shaking herself out of the day dream. "And if that's not possible, can we at least spring for air conditioning? I'm going to melt if we stay out here much longer."
Ray:
Ray didn't speak much as they walked on. They talked sense and were strictly business. He had nothing more to add to it and aided by not butting in with anything that didn't help. Ray had never been to Las Vegas before, but he knew enough to know that it was surrounded by nothing but desert. Ray was good about incliment weather conditions, but even this was a little much.
Right now, housing was the big issues, and since Ray had never been to Las Vegas before, he could exactly have good input. He wondered how his morphs would do here. The moose would be very out of place in the heat rather than the cold it was used to, but everything else should do fine. He knew he'd probably have to use the crow sparingly because the pigeon would fit in a little better as far as city birds go. No one ever seemed to notice a pigeon. Even if it was out of place. "Hey it's the welcome to Las Vegas sign!" Ray announced happily. They were there. Finally. Now if they could just find a place to go...
Rian:
They eventually made it to downtown Las Vegas. And by the time they had gotten there Rian was throughly depressed. Life in Vegas was...the same. If these people were controllers it didn't matter, they were all still doing the exact same thing they had been doing before this war. How could everyone be so apathetic?
They had walked by a dozen hotels by now and finally Rian decided that they weren't just going to stumble upon one that was advertising itself as yeerk free.
"Guys, why don't we just try that one," he said pointing to the hotel on the corner.
Luce:
Luce looked at the hotel Rian was pointing at with a neutral expression on her face. It looked just like everything else she had seen so far, bright gaudy neon lights beaconing travelers in to gamble their money and souls away. "It looks fine enough. As long as they have food I don't care where we stay."
Her stomach growled loudly, giving truth to her statement and she hefted the cooler of DNA that she had taken over carrying a little higher. The lean muscles in her arms stood out under her skin as she did so. She kept herself in good shape, but even her arms were getting tired and walking through this heat hadn't been fun and on an empty stomach too. "Why don't we just go in and ask at least."
Ember:
Ember, unlike Luce, was wearing a very distinct impression as she looked upon Rian's choice. But for the sake of all their stomachs and sweat glands she decided to let it pass for now. "Best if only one of us goes in. That way if they get pegged they can run, and the rest of us don't have to worry about another fight when we've only just gotten here."
She voiced her opinion, though truthfully it didn't seem as though much had changed in the city but the skyline. Even if the controllers recognized them as free humans, they seemed a bit preoccupied to do anything about it. And though that just made her depressed, it was better for them in the long run. They could make a bigger impact with their enemy too slow to react, and their efforts here would echo as a major support base for the the animorphs.
"Shall we rock paper scissors for it?"
Rian:
Rian looked around at his teammates trying to figure out who would be best to send and realized with some pride that anyone of them could go in. Each one of them could take care of themselves if it came to a fight and all of them were veterans and would know when to stay out of a fight. Well, he looked at Ember and Luce...
"Maybe one of you two should go." He didn't know about Ray but he had no martial arts experience of any kind. Ember had some and Luce seemed trained in something so either one could get into a fight without having to morph. Of course it shouldn't come to a fight.
"Rock, paper, scissor will work."
Luce:
Luce scoffed at the suggestion and forced the small cooler into Rian's hands, dropping the weight figuring he would catch it or have hurt toes. Then she strided off in the direction of the hotel. If Ember wanted to come then that was up to her.
Rock, paper scissors. Seriously. She pushed the door open and walked up to the clerk. "Yo, yeah you, you got any rooms open in this place?" She ignored the Hawaiian themed decorations everywhere.
Diana:
It had taken seven wrong turns and three dives into alleyways for Diana to come to the conclusion that this gaudy hotel she was currently standing in was the wrong place. There was certainly no one looking to hire a dancer here. She glanced leeringly at the peeling wallpaper and then to the plastic pineapples and hula girls. Diana grimaced.
The second thing the Diana concluded was that no one was home. Even though she dinged the bell on the counter, no one came. Slightly miffed at the lack of attentiveness of the employees and at herself for failing at following directions, Diana huffed and turned to leave. A pair of large, very large scarred hands clutched around her small frame without warning. The beast of a man tugged roughly at Diana and she yelped sharply at his prodding and he pulled her behind the front desk.
"Give me yo money and yo jewry, and ya won't get hurt." He commanded in a deep, threatening voice. The thug's head snapped up to look to the door, where a group of people were examining the exterior of the hotel. He shoved Diana under the desk.
"Keep quiet, or you die." The man said through his teeth. The bell on the door jingled, followed by footsteps and an authoritative female voice.
"Yo, yeah you, you got any rooms open in this place?"
Ray:
Ray stood outside, his arms folded. He figured it would be interesting to see Luce handle this. She had such a fiery nature that if anything went down, he was sure she would handle it. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right however. "Yeah, this looks camoflaged enough." Ray said commenting on Rian's choice of a hideout.
"Its a little more "roomy" than I'm used to" Ray said referring back to the lodge. Sure, it was a little beaten down, but it was bigger than what he'd had expected to be staying in. The town might be full of controllers, but he somehow still felt the old Las Vegas presence.
Luce:
Luce looked at the guy across the counter. When she first came in she was only concentrating on her stomach. She should know better. Now that she actually looked at him she realized that he didn't look like a clerk at any hotel, even this one. Her eyes narrowed slightly as her hand strayed to her knife. But apparently her suspicion had been noted because he pulled he yelled, "Get her!"
Two guys came out from around a corner where they had obviously been waiting to ambush travellers such as herself. It took them about 10 seconds to get to Luce. That sounds like a short time but really, as far as fights go, it took forever. She had plenty of time to pull her knife and go into a defensive stance.
But best not to hurt anyone on their first night here. As the first guy raced for her, no more than a kid really, she reversed her grip on the knife, flipping it so that she could use the hilt, and she flipped him over her hip, rapping the back of his head with the hilt as she did so rendering him unconscious.
But the move put her on the floor and one of the others decided a kick in the jaw would solve their problem. Luce's head snapped back and she was a little stunned as she rolled away from the attack. She managed to get back on her feet just in time for one of them, she didn't know which one, to collide with her in a flying tackle, sending them all back through the doors in a tangled heap.
Diana:
Who ever this woman was, she didn't pull any punches. Diana glared up at her assailant who was shouting orders with a flushed face and bulging eyes. He was distracted; the perfect time for her to get away. Pushing curls away from her eyes, Diana scowled and leaped out from behind the desk. The thug was not so easily eluded. He grabbed her wrist roughly and Diana shouted angrily in her native tongue.
"Laissez vont de moi! "
(Let go of me!)
Diana turned to face the man again, this time looking him in the eye. His fist was raised and ready to punch her in the face.
"Vous ne frapperiez pas de femme, oui?"
(You would not hit a woman, yes?)
She taunted him with such a mischief, it almost seemed that she was not at all worried that her face was about to be dented by a very large, very powerful strike. She was, of course, quite concerned. However, the thug's massive and slow arm was no match for Diana's small but quick and muscular legs. Slamming the side of her foot into his jaw was a risky move, but it was better than anything. Had he not been caught off guard, it most certainly would not have had the effect that she desired. Fortunately, he was quite taken aback by the strike and he released Diana's wrist to take two or three bumbling steps backward and into the wall.
The next thing that Diana did was somewhat uncharacteristic of her nature, but adrenaline was surging through her body and she was not thinking clearly. She grabbed the lamp resting on the oak desk with her neatly manicured fingers and she slammed it into the beefy leader's face. Glass shattered and embedded itself into the man's leathery skin. He was dazed, but no where near becoming unconscious. Diana chunked the lamp to the floor and ran to the other side of the lobby while she had a chance. She observed the impressively skilled woman deflected the thugs that swarmed her.
" Merci beaucoup! Do you need any assistance?"
Ember:
Ember's jaw dropped open. What a nerve! Luce just left her there like she was yesterday's news! Sure she didn't carry around stock piles of weapons, or have bulging muscles that could kill a man by merely flexing (Ember let that imagery sink in with a gratified smirk), but she was just as capable as her new faction mate and she'd be damned if she was left out of this. Even if it was an easy assignment that probably didnt require both of them.
Storming after her, she almost grabbed the handle of the tacky Hawaiian themed hotel before it was knocked open, three bodies hurling into her before she even knew what was happening. The thing she first realized was how heavy Luce was as the woman ended up in her arms. Well, for a second at least until her momentum knocked them over. The other men either tripped over them and rolled back toward Rian and Ray, or smashed into the other door. However, Ember didn't notice this because all she was concerned about was getting out from under Luce so she could breath again!
Ray:
Ray let a small grin appear as Ember went after Luce. Apparently she was every bit as fiery as Luce had been. How hard was getting a room? Ray asked himself. This was answered as Luce and a few other people busted out of the doors toppling on top of Ember. He glanced over at Rian and had just enough humor in him to cock and eyebrow before stepping into action.
The adrenaline poured in. Of all the animals he had morphed, it seemed that human emotions had brought him more attitude to fight than any of the animals he had morphed so far. Maybe it was because he had always had to run or be on patrol, but right now he REALLY wanted to hit someone. These were his partners, his newfound friends. Who were these guys to be doing ANYTHING to them but being nice and courteous? Ray was toned to some extent and had some experience at hand to hand fighting, mainly through scrapping at school.
Ray sprang into action, now angry at these men for having no regard for his friends. He ran up and kicked the first guy, whom was on top of Luce in the head which felt almost as nasty as it looked. Blood spurted everywhere which verified that his nose was broken. Ray had about enough time to flash a grin at Luce and Ember before being shoved back into the wall of the hotel by another goon. By now adrenaline pumped everywhere in his body...The punches that landed on him felt distant...All he knew was where the guy's face was and where to strike...
Diana:
Diana was just as surprised to see more people rush into the rescue as she was thankful. She elbowed a man in the stomach and shouted lightly,
"Bonjour! Nothing like an old-fashioned fight." She grunted the last word as she was struck in the side. Diana picked herself off the ground and turning on her heels in a manner that only an accomplished dancing girl could do without loosing even a smidge of her balance, she kicked the man who have executed the punch with great force. Diana's hair bounced into her face and she paused for a moment, observing the other fighters in the room. The young man that had rushed after the two females was strong and was taking out twice as many of the thugs that Diana could ever hope to K.O. The first woman to come in was doing the same, but she had weapons. Lots and lots of weapons.
'Mon Dieu, who are these people?'
The other girl who had gone after the first was muscular and obviously very athletic. Were these people Controllers? She had yet to see any suggestion of a Dracon beam from the massive arsenal at the first woman's disposal. They were all older than Diana, but only by maybe two or three years, she supposed.
The battle was still raging. Even though they were outnumbered, the mystery fighters were definitely holding their own. Diana's eyes darted across the scene, hoping that all of this would quickly come to an end.
Rian:
Rian felt useless. He was holding the fridge full of DNA and the morphing cube was in a back pack on his shoulders. He could afford to lose neither but...the fight. He looked around and walked over to the wall of the hotel, slightlly further down from where the fight was and put the heavy fridge down. It should be safe enough.
Then he rushed to the hotel. Of all the people here he was probably the only one not to have been in a real fist fight. He'd been in anymorph battles but never had he fought in his own body.
It hurt slightly more. He jumped at one of the guys that had toppled Luce and Ember, completely unskilled, but with his weight behind it. He tackled the guy and they ended up on the floor of the hotel, wrestling each other like a bunch of kids. In fact they were a bunch of kids. As he got a look at his assailant he noticed that the kid was his own age.
And obviously more experienced in a fight. He managed to get Rian on his back on the floor, the morphing cube digging painfully into his spine. Rian pushed against him but couldn't dislodge his weight. Then he thought of a move he had seen used on Bruce Willis in the Kid.
He wrapped both legs around the guy's torso and flipped him off, landing on top of him. He wished he had a witty comment right then. In the movies the good guy always had a witty comment for moments like these. Instead he just said, "Stay down," or he would have said that but the guy punched him in the face. He rolled off him, holding his nose and yelling something that sounded like a muffled ow.
Luce:
Luce didn't feel the fall as much as she suspected, something broke it so that she had a soft landing. She rolled over and got up and looked back to see that she had landed on Ember. "Oops, my bad." Then she turned back to the fight at hand.
She was hitting people and having a helluva time doing so. She hadn't been in a good honest brawl in a while. The guys that had hit her? One of them went flying right back through the doors courtesy of a steal toed boot to the chest. And to think, she had thought about getting sneakers while at the gas station. Now she remembered why she liked her boots.
She walked back through the doors of the hotel a large smile on her face. She sheathed the knife, making sure to strap it in so that it wouldn't fall out and then jumped in. She could have used weapons on these guys but where was the fun in that. She almost laughed when more of the goons came down the stairs. Apparently the hotel was full of them.
She began beating up guys and even a couple of girls mixed in with the lot. She saw the girl who had been behind the counter and had offered help. She was holding her own and doing so with, was that dancer's grace Luce spotted? Looked like. Ember was having her own fun and so was Ray. Only Rian wasn't in the fight, oh wait, there was Rian, getting beat up.
I like this new faction was the only thought running through her mind.
Ray:
Ray was in blind rage mode now. When the man had returned punches, Ray felt them from an extreme distance it felt like. He didn't seem to notice that he was possibly killing someone with his own bare hands by smashing the man's head into the wall repeatedly. The anger dwindled his eyesight and thoughts down to primordial survival tactics. There was no thoughts other than one. Win. He realized the bloody mess of the guy he was fighting and felt he had time to glance around at the others. Luce seemed to be having fun. Ember fine. The french speaking girl wasn't in danger yet....Rian.
Rian. Ray ran over to Rian. The man that was on Rian saw Ray coming and tried standing up. Ray was ready and met him with a swing that had all his power behind it. Not to mention the force of being met at a running swing. Ray felt the man's jaw distort from the impact and his knuckle's flared from pain. As the man landed with a thud on the ground next to Rian Ray seemed impatient. He was looking for another target, oblivious to anything else.
Rian:
Rian saw the guy go flying and looked up at Ray to say thanks but Ray was looking like he was already on to the next fight. Instead Rian picked himself up and tried to ignore the pain of his bleeding nose and aching jaw. He looked around for the next person to attack as well, even though he had proven that this wasn't his forte. Still, he couldn't let the others fight alone.
He saw the guy that seemed to be the leader of all this and decided to go after him. This fight had to end quickly or else they might all get taken in by whatever the yeerk equivalient of police were. And then his faction would learn what the yeerk equivelent of prison was.
Ember:
What the hell had this turned into? Ember thought, looking around disgustingly as her faction mates leaped on top of... who WERE these people anyway?! They were fighting, that was for sure, but why? These guys were thugs, but were they Yeerks? How could they tell? And there were far too many to capture and free if that were the case.
The thought of losing never even crossed her mind.
"Oh fine." Ember sighed resignedly and jumped back in. At first she headed to help Rian out now that she had her breath back, but Ray got there so she changed course and grabbed hold of one of the girl-thugs that had come down the hotel steps. Geez, where did they keep coming from? Nice pick Rian. Out of all the cheesy hotels in Vegas you just had to pick the one full of goons. She snatched at the girl's hair, hearing her yelp in sudden pain and remembered her fight with Kat back in LA. There wasn't much time for nostalgia as the girl turned sharply and tried to hit back, swinging and clawing in street style fighting that caught Ember off guard. The hair ripped from her fingers as she was jerked backwards by a pop to the jaw. Stumbling, her knees buckled and she hit the floor. The girl dove after her, quickly gaining the advantage as Ember was backed against a corner and only just able to block any damaging blows.
Somewhere in the back of her mind Ember thought bitterly: I bet Luce isn't having this much trouble.
Luce:
No she was not. Luce grabbed the girl that was attacking Ember by the hair, pulled her head back and slammed it into the hard, fake metal wall. She went down pretty quickly. She looked at Ember and shrugged, "Girl's kick ass. Says so on a t-shirt."
Then she turned back to the fight at hand. She saw Ray mix it up and realized that he was one of those berserker fighters. Not bad in a fight but a little hard to control sometimes. She reminded herself to stay away from him and babysit Rian who seemed to be having trouble.
Diana:
Thugs swarmed from the hallways of the hotel like roaches. Diana wheeled, grabbing a skinny and red-faced kid from behind. With her small, tones arms and a great deal of balance, she managed to lift him off of his feet and slam him into the carpet. Thud. The newbie thug's head lolled to one side, his eyes unfocused. He made a dazed attempt to knock Diana off her feet, but a swift, non-lethal kick to the head rendered him unconscious.
Finally it seemed that the rush of scumbags was thinning. Diana's chest heaved as she allowed oxygen to rush into her lungs. Panting, she looked to the side to see the last of her assumed allies to enter. His face was concentrated as he rushed towards the looming leader of the attackers. Diana held the breath that she had struggled to catch as she watched.
Drake:
Drake walked down one of the streets of Las Vegas, wondering how he should spend the last few dollars that he had. His cash supply had only lasted a few weeks since he had left his home. It seemed like everything was overpriced in this town.
As he turned a corner, Drake heard a commotion coming from a run-down hotel. Once he got closer he could see a fight was taking place just inside the doorway. A group of three girls and two guys were holding their own against a much larger group of what appeared to be common thugs. Impressive.
Drake was going to stay out of it and keep to his side of the street, but noticed that one of the people from the losing side that had been knocked out, regained consciousness and pulled out a gun. The gun-holder was lying in the doorway and seemed to be in a slight daze as he tried to aim the weapon.
Drake’s mind began to race. What should he do? This was not his fight, and it was not in his nature to help just because he could. But on the other hand, someone might be killed, and then he would have to live with that on his conscience for the rest of his life. The decision was suddenly clear.
He ran across the street to the guy who was still trying to aim straight, and kicked the gun out of his hand. Then, in a rush of adrenaline, Drake kicked the man in the side of the head, returning him to unconsciousness. Whether he liked it or not, Drake was now a part of this fight.
Rian:
Rian ran at the leader and threw a wild punch. It was his only lucky move of the night. The punch caught the guy on the side of the head and he was so surprised that he fell. In the course of falling he hit his head on the reception desk and was knocked unconscious.
Rian was feeling pretty good about himself until the backpack was stolen.
A kid came up to him and tried to grab him from behind but the backpack holding the escafil device got in the way. They grappled for a second and then he managed to throw him off but the backpack went with him. The thug tripped and fell over backward but quickly got up and decided he had had enough and started running for the door. He had the backpack with him. There was no way he could know what it held, he was probably not even thinking just running and the backpack just happened to be in his hands but that didn't change the fact that an escafil device was about to run out of the door.
"Somebody stop him!"
Luce:
Luce finished knocking out some woman and looked around to find that the fight was almost over. She supposed that was a good thing.
Then she heard Rian's yell and whipped her head around to look at the door. She saw the kid from earlier running towards it with a backpack. She didn't think much about it, just pulled out the gun at her waist, undid the safety, took aim and fired. The gunshot rang, bouncing off the walls of the rundown hotel. The kid dropped.
Rian:
Rian heard the gun shot. The running thug jumped forward a little, almost like a puppet that got yanked. Then, like puppet that got it's strings cut, he fell, just crumpled to the floor. For a second Rian just stared at the body as the concious thugs ran out of the hotel, then he looked around trying to figure out where the gun shot had come from.
Has that ever happened to you? You know the answer, he knew it had to have been Luce, but, but his mind just couldn't accept it for a second. It was like he was looking for some other explanation, something that didn't mean that one of his faction mates had just shot someone in the back.
He saw Luce standing with the gun.
Drake:
Drake’s gut wrenched when he heard the sound of a gunshot. For a moment he thought it had come from the gun that he kicked away, but quickly realized that the sound had come from inside the building. He stood outside next to the door as the remaining goons scrambled out of the hotel, and considered running away as well.
In the end Drake decided to risk a peek into the building. As he stuck his head around the side of the doorway he cringed at the sight of the person who had been shot, lying facedown in a pool of his own blood. “Are you guys alright?” he finally managed to ask, holding back his own urge to vomit.
Ray:
Ray was already tense enough as it was being in fight mode and all, but the sound of the gunshot made him about as still as a statue. The sound was ringing in his ears. He looked over to see Luce holding a gun and what a believed was an accomplished look. The thugs decided enough was enough, and at least were smart enough to know that if one guy died, they might as well save themselves.
Ray took in a few deep breaths trying to calm himself. It was over and there was to be no more fighting. Just as the last few piled out one guy had the nerve to come back in. Wait, he didn't look like he was a part of the thugs at all. He asked if they were...all right? This almost went over Ray's head because of all the action that had just happened. "Um, Yeah, I think so." Ray replied hoping this wasn't another potential enemy. Ray looked around at his teammates. He didn't know what to think of the newcomer's presence.
Rian:
Rian walked over to the dead body not paying attention to the kid who had come through the door. He just stared for a second and then he turned on Luce. He had known that she carried weapons and intellectually he had even agreed with her reasons but that was a lot different than seeing her shoot someone almost in cold blood.
"Why did you do that! I said stop him, not kill him. You didn't have to kill him." Rian looked down at the body and noticed that it was just a kid a kid their own age, maybe younger. He had killed people before but this felt wrong. "You didn't have to kill him," he almost whispered.
Luce:
Luce reset the safety and holstered the gun. She walked over to the body and knelt down and turned it over. There was a gray, slimy goo that seemed to be coming from the bullet hole in the kid's forehead. She reached down and grabbed as much of the slimy stuff as possible and yanked. The dying yeerk came free in her hands and she crushed it before dropping the mess back on the floor. She wiped her hands on the kid's shirt. He was better off dead than a controller anyway.
She picked up the bag holding the escafil device and shoved it into Rian's hands, almost angrily. "Next time specify." Then she grabbed a handful of the dead kid's shirt and began dragging the body out of the door. If she knew yeerk infested city, and she figured she did, then this kid would make a nice Taxxon snack.
Diana:
All Diana knew was the someone had been shot over a stolen backpack. And that they were now very dead; as so was the yeerk that slide out of the kid's forehead and onto the ground. By the way that the others treated the slug, Diana was now more than convinced that this band of teenagers were not controllers. The young French girl stood, stiffly fidgeting with her clothes, and looked at the display. The fight was over. Suddenly a great wave of aches washed over her small frame and Diana could feel her legs weaken. She allowed herself to fall to her knees.
Diana took a moment to catch her breath and sort her thoughts, wondering what would happen to her now.
Drake:
A new wave of queasiness washed over Drake as he watched the armed woman pull the slug out of the kid’s forehead and then proceed to drag the body past him out the door. Despite his initial shock, Drake realized this event was a good thing. They killed a controller so that must mean they are fighting the yeerks. If he played his cards right, maybe this group of people could help him get back at the yeerks for making his parents into controllers.
Judging by how one of the team members reacted to the shooting, it seemed like this was not their usual behavior. I sure hope it isn’t, Drake thought to himself, Here goes nothing. “So are you guys yeerk fighters or something?” he asked sheepishly, “Because I was hoping someone could teach me how to become one.”
That was not exactly true. Drake honestly did want to hurt the yeerks any way possible, but he could not picture himself getting into fights like this all the time. But who knows, maybe they would need someone to be a lookout or carry their bags or something.
Drake:
Ray was bothered that someone had been killed, but it felt odd that he didn't feel worse than he thought he should have. It was a bloody mess, and one that would take a lot of time to clean up and cover up. Other than that, he didn't feel too bothered, although that still was a human life that was taken. He felt for the kid, seeing as how he was around the same age as the rest of them. Ray saw the french speaking girl fall to her knees and after a second of being trapped in reality he shook his head and headed over to help her up offer her his hand. She had helped them fight, and it was the very least he could do to repay her. "Etes-vous blesse?" He asked of her, grinning inside from taking french in high school.
He listened to the newcomer question them about yeerk fighting. He looked over at him sizing him up. They definently could be gaining numbers from this...The guy did seem oblivious enough not to be a yeerk and eager enough to join the cause. He hoped the girl did too seeing as how that's probably where she was headed too. He couldn't resist a grin at the inquiry and replied, "We'll man, lets just say that this little club beats the crap out of the army in that, in here, the phrase 'be all that you can be' gets taken to a WHOLE new level..."
Diana:
"Etes-vous blesse?" The dark haired fighter had asked as he helped Diana back to her feet. She grinned at his French.
"Non. Just some bruises." Diana listened to their conversation about fighting the Yeerks. The thought had never really occurred to her. Heck, she had even considered fighting them. What she had done here was self-defense. But then, she though, what was she really doing? Living a meaningless existence in the shadows hoping to remain unseen by an invading enemy while performing on stage? Suddenly Diana felt as though her life did not make sense.
"We'll man, lets just say that this little club beats the crap out of the army in that, in here, the phrase 'be all that you can be' gets taken to a WHOLE new level..."
Diana searched her memory . These were the Animorphs. He mind went to a news clipping she'd seen blowing in the wind. Diana Du Pont smiled.
Ember:
Ember stood in shock. What the hell had happened? And she thought things like this only happened in LA.. where everything is fake anyway. She wanted to SCREAM, to yell, to shout 'Luce just killed someone!' but... no one would care... Ray was talking to people, survivors? He didn't look bothered, he maybe even looked glad that he'd had the chance to fight... He certainly didn't look at the corpse Luce was.. was... Ember's mind wouldn't work. She stood, her back against the wall, mouth agape, unable to process what had happened. The controller didn't deserve to die for that. The kid didn't even know what he'd had... it wasn't even clear he was a controller! How could she have... how could she have admired such a woman? Felt challenged by her? Now all Ember felt was a sickening disgust.
No.. no, can't be overwhelmed... can't let the others see you... Her thoughts trailed in and out like a radio barely tuned.
Ray. Ray was chatting. French? A French girl and a boy who had helped in the fight. Yes. They were fine. They didn't understand that... that controllers were still human... They were like her before she found out. Happily oblivious. They couldn't know that controllers could be freed, and were still human inside, but prisoners to the yeerks. There was no need to kill them like- like that... Her faction mates stood chatting. Calmly. Out of breath but fine, not so much as a scratch. The controllers... should she pity them? No. And yet, seeing the puddle of blood that was being slowly smeared across the carpet... Ember had killed before. Yes. She'd taken risks, hurt people, killed people. But because there was no choice. Her faction had been in trouble... And even then it wasn't her direct action that killed... killed... WASN'T THERE ENOUGH DEATH?! Her fists, so numb, tried to clench but had no feeling to motivate them. Why shouldn't she shout? Why shouldn't she feel anger at that- that stupid girl with that stupid gun!
Ember's mind flashed to Kat and her anger at Luce faded. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't any of their faults that they'd been driven to this. Death was common. Us.. or Them. Right? It must be that black and white. Right? Otherwise.. otherwise how could they keep fighting? Eventually their goodness would cripple them, make them hesitate, and their enemies would not have such restraint. No... We must be like them to defeat them... Right? Right??
She found all this, in the space of a few breaths, and suddenly wanted to find a room to lock herself in. "I..." No, can't let them know you're weak. Forget it for now, deal with it later. Ember's jaw set slightly, shoulders squaring, and she changed the tack of her sentence within a moment, "I need a glass of water. First the desert and now a fist fight? Tch! This place is awful already! LA was much more civilized even with the yeerks. I can't believe I followed you here Ri-" Her eyes caught sight of his and the wind knocked the life out of her.
Rian:
Rian looked back at Ember sadly. For a second he could see that she felt the same way about this that he did but then it was gone, covered and buried like so many of their emotions, victims to the strong face they had to show. Especially him. He was a faction leader now and Luce was right. He had known who she was, what she was and he had foolishly yelled out an order. She had followed it. Next time he would have to specify.
He put the backpack back on and tried to shake it off. He looked around. Luce was taking care of the body but that still left all the other controllers they had knocked out. Plus they still needed a place to sleep and there were two new people here.
"Alright, what's done is done. Ray, can you go outside and get the freezer. Bring it in here. I think we found a place to stay, maybe permanently since this place seemed to belong to them and I don't think they'll be coming back soon. Can you also tell Luce I want to talk to her when she's done and then start dragging these thugs somewhere where they can be held for three days. I'll help as soon as I'm done."
He turned to the girl and boy that had somehow shown up. Both had fought with him and the others. That didn't mean they were free and even if they were it didn't mean that they were to be trusted. If there was any place that proved that humans had plenty of evil inside them without the help of aliens it was Las Vegas. "Thank you for your help," he said to both, "but I'm afraid that we will have to hold onto you for a while. As you can see," he said motioning towards the blood stain on the floor, "we have secrets worth killing over. But we only have to hold you for three days, after that your freedom is guaranteed. We fight yeerks, hopefully you know what those are," he said knowing the young man had shown he had but not sure about the french girl. "If you would like to join us after three days you are welcome to," he said looking at the boy who had asked to join them. After three days, the human in them would be able to chose, even if they were controllers now. He smiled, a little sadly but honestly friendly.
He looked at Ember. He wanted to just go somewhere and talk about all this but they couldn't right now. "Can you please escort our guests to a room and make sure they stay there? Answer any questions they have but make sure they don't get away." He looked at the door that Luce had disappeared through. "Make sure they don't escape, any means necessary though hopefully it won't come to that. I'm going to find a place to hide this," he said holding up the backpack, "and the cooler. Then I'll set up a watch schedule so that we can all get some rest and hopefully they have food somewhere in here. But before all of that can I ask your names?" he said, looking at the two who weren't his faction mates.
Diana:
Diana listened intently to this young man, who she decided was the leader of this band, realizing that she would have to sit in some hotel room for three days without leaving. The thought was unsettling to the otherwise active dancer. The thought of joining them, was, however quite pleasant. Diana would endure if it meant becoming something more than what she was now.
"...But before all of that can I ask your names?"
Diana tuned into his voice, switching over from her thoughts. She dipped her head in respect and with a smile, answered, "Bonjour, I am Diana Du Pont."
Drake:
"And I am Drake Blear," he said, "I'll sit and wait for three days in order to prove myself. It's not like I was doing anything more important anyway. I am homeless at the moment." Drake was not sure if these strangers waned to know about the intricate details of his life, so he decided to stop there.
It was obvious that one giving out the orders was in charge, and the others were his followers of some sort. Except for the French girl. It seemed like they just met her as well. This surprised Drake since she had been fighting so well alongside the others as if they had all been in the same group for years. Then Drake's thoughts drifted towards the freezer and the backpack. What could they have in them that was so important?
Diana:
"Diana and Drake. Welcome to the club." Ember managed to keep most of the sarcasm out of her voice. "Ok then, since we've introductions all around..." She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, "you can follow me to your new room. I'll try to pick a pretty one since you'll have to stare at the walls for three days." She knew her words were weak efforts to alleviate the tension that still choked her gut, but they helped a little... and that was enough.
"And" She added before they started, "In case you were dying to know, my name is Ember Rosalind, formerly of Beverly Hills." Her shoulder dipped as she took a small step back, letting them take her in like a celebrity at the red carpet. For awhile she felt normal again. And then she continued, "I'm not afraid to take severe action against you if you try to run or don't cooperate. If we can all get along and keep our promises to play nice... then I don't have to apply these to your face." Ember held up her hand and watched with a kind of fascinated smugness at the two new people's expressions. Her nails, recently painted red before her departure from LA, started to... move. Firstly inwards as her knuckles firmed, becoming thicker and growing thick peach fuzz hair on the joints, then sharp needle points curled upwards into a very cool effect that imitated Tim Burton's catwoman claws. Ember wiggled her fingers, not showing the immense amount of concentration it took for her to hold it there. It took a better part of fifteen seconds, but it felt like eternity by the time she released and let the human fingers flood back over the bones.
That should raise some questions, she thought to herself, letting a smirk run loose upon her lips.
Ray:
Ray nodded at Rian confirming his orders had been received. He shot a look at Diana and Drake before walking towards the door. "Oh yeah, and I'm Ray!" he called just before he got out the door. "Have fun playing statue!" He grinned sheepishly after knowing he probably added nervousness to the newcomers. Outside he found Luce still dragging the body. Damn it was a mess...Poor kid. "Hey Luce" he said gaining her attention. "Rian wants a word with you." Ray's voice didn't insinuate anything because quite frankly, he had no idea what Rian wanted her for.
Ray rounded around to the freezer full of blood samples. He picked it up and, while trying to avoid looking at the dead body again, he made his way back inside. The room was now minus three people. Ember, Drake, and Diana were gone. "We'll, it's a whole hell of a lot of room. More than I'm used to anyway." He said to Rian has he entered. "Where would you like the loot cap'n?"
Luce:
Luce dragged the body into an alley and looked around for a sewer grate. Taxxons tended to like the tunnels though they did travel above ground. Still, she was guessing that in a place like this, that seemed to be a mostly human occupied city, they would keep a low profile.
She finally found a sewer grate but realized that she had left any sort of tool that she could have used as leverage in her bags. She didn't want to leave the body so close to the hotel but she couldn't easily dump it either. She settled for the lesser evil and dragged it slightly further away. She took the precaution of using an empty can to collect some of the blood and spread it around to attract the Taxxons faster. The body wouldn't survive till morning.
She headed back the way she'd come.