vatheon | While the villains are away...

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While the villains are away...

Seems like crime has taken a step up from just purse-snatching or someone stealing forty cakes when no one was looking. Those with a great sense of hearing or who happen to be at the wrong place at the right time will find that the good people of Vatheon are in danger. It's up to anyone who is willing to help to work together to save the day!

-Carol-

[In the lower district there were these warehouses lining along the barrier’s wall. One of them had a large neon sign with the words “Villains are here” flashing in lights. Anyone investigating the outside of the building will hear someone yelling for help.

Even if it’s obviously a trap, a hero must do their duty. And maybe clues about the real location of the nest of villains could be found.

The warehouse has been converted to a giant fun house with Indiana Jone’s Raiders of the Last Ark type traps. Getting help with navigating through this maze of traps and nurse themed goons would definitely be a good idea.

At the end of the maze, should people succeed, they will find Carol.]

-Hostage Hotel-

[A message will flash across the Starfish communicator asking for help.]

Help. At the Hotel they have guns

[Any messages sent in response will not be answered.

Seems that the city’s hotel has been taken over. The police are making a barrier and trying to negotiate, without any luck, with the crooks. They have the hotel owners and a their guests hostage on the top floor. They are armed, and very dangerous. Their demands include an escape route and a suitcase full of money.

Are you there to save the day or just get the scoop? Work together with the police or other heroes to save the day.]

-Like a bandit-

[There seems to be a burglar committing a string of crimes. They stole a rather large diamond from the jewelry store, money from the casino, and snatched a vase from an auction house. Thy only thing was a picture or a riddle for the scene of the next crime. The police are refusing to release the previous clues, but a reporter has managed to get a picture of the new message.]

What has branches and leaves and no bark?

-Anonymous Voice-

[A voice can be heard over everyone's communicator in the morning.]

There are twenty bombs hidden all over the city’s park. They will go off in a half hour. Find them before someone gets hurt.

[The caller might be using a synthesizer to disguise their voice, but locating them shouldn’t be a priority yet. Get those bombs out of the park before time runs out. Super speed or getting help would be beneficial for the ducks. Think of the ducks please.]

[They may also wind up stumbling or following a goon back to the actual secret base to listen in on a meeting at their own risk. Good luck!

((If you are open to being threadjacked, then please put Open in your subject line. If you have an idea already and want to play it out with a particular group of people, then please put Closed in your subject. Thank you.

Have fun playing out the scenarios, and feel free to drop a note in the subject line if Carol or the hotel owners are needed or if you believe characters may have solved the riddle! The location of the bombs is random and characters are encouraged to locate and defuse them on their own.))

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[Some unholy combination of both, to be honest. He turns toward Kid immediately, but unlike all the times before, his sword doesn't appear in his hand as he moves. In fact, he takes a step back.

The shades Kid usually accuses him of hiding behind are gone, though.]

For fuck's sake. You are the shittiest stalker. Like hell I'm going in there, knowing you're hanging around.

[That's--

Interesting. Kid can't help wondering why. Why for more than the absence of his shades, but the (instinctive?) retreat in contrast with their frequently mutual approach in equally mutual aggression.

Did the curse have some effect on Dirk that isn't yet readily apparent? It would be a simple matter, letting his other sight show him the world of ultraviolet, the shivering glow of souls innumerable, but...

But he's enjoying the puzzle.]

Oh? Are you worried you'll come to an unfortunate end? If you're feeling timid, I could escort you personally.

[Maybe shove him through a wall or two while he's at it.]

[He doesn't take another step back, but the wariness doesn't go away. He's ready for something, but it's hard to tell if it's fighting that he's prepared for. Whatever it is, it's not the usual Dirk.

What brings it into question most is the expression on his face and in his eyes. There's no scowl or smirk, just a look of tension. He doesn't look away from Kid- because he doesn't dare to.]

Unfortunate ends follow you everywhere you go, Death the Kid. I thought you'd learned better than making idiotically brazen propositions like that.

Come, now. To have your soul safeguarded by a reaper is a far better fate than the alternative.

[That tense... uncertainty? expression warrants further investigation. Stepping closer with one of smug, calculating self-assurance is probably not helping matters.]

...Did someone finally slap those ridiculous shades off your face?

For a stalker, you're really fucking bad at remembering details.

[Because it should be obvious that he doesn't wear shades often enough for Kid to make a comment like that. As far as he knows, this is just Kid being even more ridiculous and borderline insane than usual.

Either way, it means danger. Lucky for him, Kid isn't allowed to attack him directly. Or so he thinks.]

[The lift of his eyebrows is brief enough that the casual observer might have missed it. But being so summarized as a 'stalker' rankles the young reaper, who might have ascended to full godhood, but is still prideful enough to be insulted.

Pettiness is not beneath Kid.

He hazards another step forward, this time, bringing him uncomfortably within that variable bubble called 'personal space'.]

My recollection is fine.

[Again, he takes a step back. And that's another warning flag- Dirk the fighter, Dirk the boy who's lived in an empty earth and has lived through a dead session of SBURB, may like keeping his personal space, but he wouldn't back down just because Kid was in his bubble.]

You've been trying to reap my soul for this long, and you can't even remember what I do and don't wear? This is the shittiest attempt at a mind game I've ever heard.

[There are a few little things, a few obscure, small little subjects that just so happen to rub Kid the wrong way, to furious effect. Considering the way the hard, bony point of his finger jabs for the center of Dirk's chest, something he's said appears to be one of them.]

I do not play mind games.

[A second push, but this time it's with his palm, a rough shove because now he's kind of angry about that.]

This is the first time I've seen you without those obnoxious, yet aesthetically pleasing triangles of tinted glass.

[And, once again, rather than retaliate, Dirk chooses to take a step back- as though even a push from Kid is a threat he can't stand up to. He's still completely skeptical, but apparently he's done arguing with Kid about the shades, because he doesn't bring them up again.]

That still doesn't explain why you're hanging around. I'm not going in there and giving you a chance.

[It's not a good misdirection, but who can blame him, when Kid so obviously has him on edge?]

Is that so.

[Call it a fit of pique, call it petty vindictiveness, but Kid now acts of the desire to make a point, and that point involves the scuffing slide of his shoe heel against the ground when he throws his elbow at him.

And sweeps out his foot.

Either way, if he manages to be so lucky as to throw him off his feet, he has every intention of snagging his arm and other shoulder -- to bodily hurl him into the warehouse.

What a douche!]

[And something impossible happens: Dirk lets it hit.

Oh, he doesn't exactly stand there and take it. But his attempt to dodge the elbow thrown at him is clumsy, and only puts him off-balance, making the sweeping kick Kid follows up with even more effective, completely knocking him over. From there, it's barely any struggle for Kid to complete the throw and slam Dirk into the wall.

He doesn't come up swinging. In fact, he isn't yet making an effort to get up at all. He remains on the ground, clutching at the back of his head. At least it's not bleeding.]

What the fuck!

[Worst of all, he doesn't even seem angry about it. Just shocked. And wary.]

[The thin, pale fingers of his hands flex in the wake of his throw, then straighten out in preparation to advance.

But Kid stops.

He cocks his head to the side, squinting at him with inquisitive, suspicious eyes.]

...What are you doing?

[He should be fighting back.]

[Should be, but he's not. If he weren't still pressed up against the wall, he'd probably be backing up again.]

Getting a concussion from a fucking insane reaper. Shit. I thought this was against your rules.

Against my rules?

[Kid has tilted his head in the other direction. Now he cups his chin in a hand, elbow clasped by the other.]

And what rule would that be, Dirk? For as often as we've clashed--is this your attempt to dissuade me? What a sloppy ruse!

[This is not the best conversation to be having while Dirk's still on the ground wounded. A thoughtful look on Kid isn't good, by Dirk's estimation, but it's better than getting thrown into a wall again.]

You're the one who's always going on about what a pity it is that you have to wait for someone else to kill me, so that you can take my soul. You're the one giving sloppy explanations.

It's not as if I find you so loathsome as to kill you outright.

[Before one may assume that sounds a little weirdly tsundere, the fact is, Kid can't enjoy a thrilling rivalry if his rival has shuffled off his mortal coil. There's only so much the soul of a deceased can do, after all.]

That is, unless you prove my original suspicions about your role and aspect correct, in which case, expect your speedy demise at my hands. At least your soul will be properly attended.

What role? What aspect? You're talking crazy shit again!

[Tsundere is not appreciated, right now. Nor is what sounds like an actual death threat, especially when it seems that the reaper is more dangerous than usual. Still no sword, though.]

What?

[No, really. WHAT?!]

[Kid advances again, and unless Dirk attempts to fend him off, he intends to seize him by the front of his shirt and drag him up off the ground, giving him a firm, rattling shake if he succeeds.]

If you think this pathetic ruse is going to deter me, you're fooling yourself! You know what I'm talking about, Destroyer of Souls!

[Kid please, it's Prince of Heart, don't just make up translations however you please.]

[In the moment it takes him to realize what's happening, Kid has already grabbed the front of his shirt and started hauling him up. He follows, but the moment he's on his feet he'll be doing his best to make it difficult to keep hold, whether that requires digging nails into Kid's wrist or simply pulling away.]

If I had some way to get you to stop fucking stalking me, I'd have used it already, you creep.

What's wrong with you? Why aren't you fighting back?

[It's a perhaps inappropriately direct question, but Kid doesn't have a notion of subtlety or dramatic timing in a plethora of nuanced social interactions, least of all a rivalry as potent as the one he harbors with Dirk.

Dirk, please. ~~You're harshing his metaphorical killboner.~~]

[Dirk grits his teeth and clenches his fists, but refuses to look away from Kid's face. His anger is most evident in his eyes- this might just be one of his reasons for wearing those shades all of the time.]

Because I'm not stupid. You know I'd lose.

[That makes Kid's mouth twist in disgust and fury all at once.

Lose? LOSE?]

You never lose! Least of all graciously! Don't you dare even try to suggest otherwise!

[Rather, it's a constant tit-for-tat, that's the point. That's part of what makes this a thing. Now that it's gone all lop-sided, it's just--

Wrong.

Wow, this is really stressing him the hell out.]

[There's really no way to appease this guy. He should know this by now.]

Trying to goad me into it isn't going to work.

[He doesn't just stop struggling completely, but he's still not escalating it. If Kid's that angry, he'll have to start everything himself. Again. That wall might need a few more dents in it.]

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While the villains are away...

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