Let's go DEFY TERROR

The rider was surprised by the speed of Kittie, and also by the stupidity of her move. "Really." He said, rolling his eyes. "Go ahead, I dare you." He said as he walked around Kat confidently, continuing to circle until he was successfully aiming his shotgun at Kitties back. He knew as well as she did that she wouldn't shoot: even then, she was probably replaceable. "Drop the gun, or you both die." He growled.

('tis fine. I didn't really know what to do anyway. ^^)

Kat was surprised at Kittie's random move, then set her jaw determinely. In one twist of her body, she grabbed the gun and whacked the gunnel hard across the attacker's head. Then she flipped the gun into her hands, cocked it, then thrust the gun into the attacker's chest, all in one swift move. She cleared her throat. "I still haven't revealed my favorite weapons." She smiled keenly, evidently amused.

"Well!" Kittie huffed. She put her hands on her hips and stood back, looking pleased that her theatrics had at least sort-of helped Kat get the upper hand. But she didn't get to see what happened next, because an arm looped her shoulders and she was pulled into the darkness.

...


A street over, Theodore released her beside a prickly bush, where they both crouched down. Kittie sighed and kicked aside a pinecone.

"You ok?" Theo asked.

"Kat...?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine...Anyway, I want to go find out where the others went. Like, why the heck'd they bail on us like that?"

"Beats me. What kind of food do you got in that bag, huh?"

"Pears, apples, beef jerky, canned stuff. Not much. I had to dump out a lot when...you know...James started chasing me. It was a little heavy." He stood up. Kittie followed suit. They started moving, sticking to the dark places. Not that the streetlamps gave much light. "Why? Do you want something?"

"Beef jerky?"

Theodore handed her a package. Kittie tore the wrapping open with her teeth and spit it out along the pavement. They searched quietly for awhile.

Kat's move did little to deter the rider: he was still wearing his helmet, so the strike to the face did little but annoy him. When she held the gun to his chest, he grinned behind the helmet. "Let's find out what they are then, shall we?" In her burst for speed, she had forgotten to get the rider's hands up above where he could stop the gun in time. With a quick flick of his wrist, he had shoved the shotgun barrel directly to her left, moving him out of it's range, then yanked it out of her hands with extreme force. While she no longer had control of the gun, it came at an expense to him: the force was sufficient for the shotgun to leave his hand, and clatter across the street, out of his or her reach. With nothing else to use, the rider scrunched his fists, and thrust his right hand at Kat's face.

Kat expected that move; she had realized too late that the biker was wearing a helmet. Oh well. Then the biker was quick to stick out his fist at Kat. Kat ducked. Whle she ducked under the biker's arm, she thought quickly. His armpit! Why of course! She flicked out her weapon-- a 12-round pistol-- and shot into the armpit with one swift move, then flicked the handgun back into its place and rolled away. A few yards away, she jumped to her feet, a small smirk showing its imprint on its face.
_______________________________

Erica went around the corner, followed by the blind Izzy and John. They weaved expertly through the streets.

When they stopped for a short rest, Izzy spoke up. "Doesn't it smell a bit like beef jerky around here?"

John sniffed the air like a dog, and Erica stopped to smell the air, too. "It's Kittie and Theo," Erica whispered. "We'll pick 'em up and be on our way." No speak, she gestured in the formal group sign language that Alex and Kat had administered. They crept around a corner. Upon seeing the two siblings, Erica whistled, gesturing, Come. Then the small group turned away, back into the shadows, and move on, hoping that the par would start to follow.

The two heard a whistle. Theodore was the first to whip around, clutching the apple he'd been eating like he was ready to throw it. Whistles were usually bad news, especially when he was with Kittie.

He relaxed a little, though, when Kittie pointed out Erica beckoning. They jogged ahead until the siblings walked just few feet behind the two; then Kittie hung back and hugged herself sleepily while Theo ran forward to catch up with John.

He put a hand on John's shoulder briefly before moving around and walking in front of her, backwards. He raised his eyebrows. "Hey L." L for linguist, no doubt. "You look good for someone who just jumped out of the trunk of a car."

The rider didnt have any tricks to stop the bullet. As the bullet cleanly ripped through his shoulder, he swore loudly, and stumbled back, clutching his shoulder. The pain was extreme, and he looked to be on the brink of unconsciousness. He ignored Kat, and facing away from her, removed his helmet. He had solid black hair, which had matted together to form something not unlike feathers. He reached into the helmet, reaching for a bandage with shaking hands, then collapsed on his side, revealing his face. While he was roughly six foot three, his face revealed his true age; he couldn't possibly be much older than sixteen at the oldest. As he lay on the ground, he could be heard mumbling something incoherent, involving "Maybelle," "failure" and "cure."

John said nothing, but her eyebrows went in and out and out and in. Erica chuckled a bit, then said, "Catch up, Kittie. Nobody wants to be left behind."

______________________________

Kat looked down at the boy on the ground. "Oh, a mere boy. You fight well, you know, but it looks like you won't see your girlfriend for a while." Kat circled the fallen. "Yes, you failed. No, you have a healer, and she's standing over you. The thing is, she heals for a price. If you want to get healed, do what I say, answer what I ask. If you don't cooperate, I'll just stick another bullet in you and walk off. And I won't kill you right away. I like my enemies to die in pain." Kat coked her head. "Sound good? Now here's your first chance to see Miss Maybelle again. Who are you, and who do you work for?"

Kittie just shrugged and took another bite of her jerky.  She sped up, but only a little. Suddenly the vibrant Kittie cat was just a bumble bee floating along.

Actually, more like a buzzing hornet.

"She's mad," observed Theo. "But she'll be fine. Tired, too, most likely."

As if on cue, behind them, Kittie yawned. A moment later, her brother yawned too. An epidemic of yawns.

His eyes slid back over to John. He kept walking backwards, never missing a beat. The guy looked over his shoulder a few times, though.

He ruffled his hair self-consciously, and added, "Don't start wiggling your eyebrows like that at me. I was making fun of you. And anyway I only came over here because I can't stand the smell of that beef Kittie over there is eating. It's practically mooing...So, you know, don't feel too special." He relaxed a little. "Are any of you hungry? I've got a lot of fruit, but I have other stuff, too. Or if you like cold spaghetti, you know, whatever."

The boy spat at her, but it only made it half-way. "I work for Maybelle, and that is all I do. My name is of no importance to you. Now, you must answer me a question." He growled painfully. Even though the odds were stacked against him, he was set on his cause, whatever it was. "If a fatal girl got a fatal wound, could the fatality be unfatalized?" His question was a riddle, at best.

"Ah, but you are wrong. Your name is of importance to me." Kat chucked a small chunk of cement at the wounded on the ground.

The boy shouted when the large piece of concrete landed on his leg, forcing it into an uncomfortable position. The boy growled, unable to adjust due to his injured arm. "My name is of no value, it will get you nowhere; only Maybelle knows my true name, and you won't be able to collect any information from her!" He shouted, aggrovated that his captor was injuring him for no reason.

Kat smiled. "Well then. You still haven't told me your name. You will die a VERY painful death. I hope you love every second of it...." Kat smiled, fake sympathy dancing in her face. She casually chucked another piece of concrete towards the boy.

__________________________

Erica was hurrying, leading them down one alleyway after another. Suddenly, they reached the bridge-- or where the bridge was. Erica stopped, holding up a hand.

Across the canal, a row of old brick building smoked, their sides crumbling and fire leaping from the windows and roofs.

"Base is gone. It's down to us to get out of this place." Erica turned and started walking swiftly back into the alleyways. "We were too late. They are all dead now. April leaves no one alive."

((OOC:Hold on a moment, how does Erica know about Maybelle? I think there's been a bit of confusion here, since apparantly Maybelle blew something up and runs the mafia or something, which isn't the one I planned. She's not a known antagonist, just someone that the Rider is referring too (and he doesn't work for a terrorist group.)
Plus, Maybelle is six years old.))

(My mistake. I meant to write 'April,' but got messed up. sorry sorry sorry sorry fixed it right away)

OOC:: Thanks guys. Now I can't stop laughing.


"No one cares about your dumb fruit, Theodore," Kittie muttered grumpily. They approached the canal. The twins had no idea what they were in for.

And then they came to the bridge.
And they stopped.
And they saw, and they heard what Erica had to say.

Kittie just halted, stared ahead, until finally Theodore put his arm around her to get her shuffling along. He wasn't sure how many others Kittie had known. He wasn't sure about any of it.

When they reached the next alley, the twins stopped.


Kittie moved away from her brother, pressed her cheek against the brick and closed her eyes. Theodore just stopped walking. Their footsteps faded into silence that the others were certain to notice.

The boy shouted in pain again, when the bit of concrete landed on his injured right arm. "IKE!" He shouted painfully. "JACK IKE! Why do you want my name so much if it's worthless!"

[i]"Thank you! Thank you!"[/b] Kat smiled, clapping her hands. "Now you'll have a gravestone." She laughed, then abruptly stopped and erased her smile from her face. "Alright, answer the next quetions I inquire of you and maybe you'll even get to live. Where do you come from, and what is your purpose here?" Kat had never heard of this 'Maybelle' person; she had only served April for a while before Alex convinced her to leave. She had been sure that April was doing all this, but then the boy told of 'Maybelle'. Were they connected?

__________________________

Erica turned to face Kittie and Theo. "Do you want to come with us?"

Theodore shrugged. "Not unless we get some answers. If people are dying I think we at least deserve to know what it is you've gotten us all screwed up in."

"I am here to find someone, and it's obviously not you, you heartless hag." He said, shifting the concrete off him. "If you were what I was looking for, you wouldn't be so quick to injure. All you've done for me is waste my time,and put her life more at risk." He then attempted to get up.

Kat grinned smugly at him. "I don't care if you I put anybody's life at risk. And I don't care if I waste your time. If I were wasting my time, you would be over with already. I want to know what you're looking for, or, who-ever-you're-talking-about's life will be more at risk." Kat chucked another well-aimed rock at the boy, towards his chest.
________________________

Erica sighed. "Look here. You want answers, then. You have questions, ask Kat. She used to be involved in all this until Alex convinced her to leave. Now, since Alex is... well, gone, Kat wants answers to everything, and she'd put everybody's life at risk to find the answers-- even ours."

Suddenly, an unpredictable event occurred: Jack managed to grab the piece of concrete with his good arm, spun around, and lobbed it at Kat with considerable force and speed. Unfortunately.p, due to their close proximity, it would be impossible to dodge without severe self-harm.

Kat did not see the oncoming missile. The force threw her tumbling back into some styrofoam. She righted herself, and glared at Jack. "I will arrange a ride for you, okay?" She drew out a Blackberry and started texting:

KEGR UNIT 625: A, an informant has been located.

ACLARCKSON HEAD UNIT 625: Got your lats and longs. Sending.

HAMI UNIT 625: Transmitting signal.

KEGR UNIT 625: D.

Kat slipped the phone into her pocket. She grinned smugly at Jack. "Well, turns out you don't need to die. Yet. They will be here in a couple minutes; April is never late."

"I don't know who this April is, but I know I don't need them to get to where I'm going. Call them off." He said, turning and walking off, heading towards an alleyway.

"Then Kat's not our heroine anymore, huh?" he mused.

He looked at Izzy, John, back to Erica. Somewhere far off, an alarm went off. A bunch of scuffling feet. Not an unusual sound. He looked away pointedly.

"Is there anything else I should know? Like maybe where you're planning on going? I mean, like, do you even know?"

. . .

As Theodore spoke, Kittie leaned more heavily against the brick, her face paling. She lurched forward and threw up on a broken table that was propped against the brick.