Shrugs

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    It was a pleasant enough evening. The candy store wasn't too particularly busy at this particular point in time, but Jack didn't mind that so much. He enjoyed being able to pick out his favorite sugary treats in relative privacy. It had been a slow week for him and he hadn't done much but sit around and watch television, waiting for work and mostly waiting for the release of a new video game that he'd been anticipating for months. Once it finally came out, he'd probably binge for a couple days before climbing back off the couch. Ok, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. But Jack was seriously excited, that much was true.

    Anyways, having picked out everything he'd come for plus a bit extra, Jack made his way to the register and chatted up the woman stationed there while he paid. She was a pal of his and half the reason he typically teleported back to this store when he wanted candy. The niceness was appreciated. The young man thanked her before gathering up his candy and exiting the shop. While he was in the middle of pulling out a handful of sugary goodness to stuff his face with, Jack heard a deafeningly loud sound that nearly made him drop the bag in surprise.

    Shocked and a little flustered, Jack peered in the direction it had come from. A small crowd of onlookers was already starting to gather around. Curious, the young man stopped a random passerby and asked "Did you see what happened? What's going on?" It was unlikely that they had, but just in case they'd happened to turn and look in time, they would've seen a woman lose control of her car. Jack didn't know this, but he was already coming to a decision to head over and check things out for himself. After all, someone could've been hurt.

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer blinked as there was suddenly a loud noise, and turning around he frowned. There had not been anything there earlier, he had just walked down that direction after all headed this way and now there was suddenly a massive amount of commotion having followed the massive amount of noise that sounded like metal upon metal. Having turned around, another person who had also stopped beside him asked him a question.


"Did you see what happened? What's going on?"

     Vortimer shook his head, indicating he did not know what had happened. He had not seen it because he had been walking the other direction.

     "Unfortunately not. I did not see what happened, though we had best go check to see if everybody is alright and if there is something we can do," Vortimer responded. 

     Vortimer headed towards the incident, gently moving people out of his way by placing a hand upon their shoulder and sliding them out of the way so he could move past them. Approaching the crashed vehicle, he began to inspect it to see if there was any chance of a fire breaking out that he might need to put out discreetly with is skills.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Well, the guy Jack had stopped to question didn't seem to know anymore than he did. Luckily, he spoke of going to check things out before the young man could even suggest it. "Good idea. Someone could be really hurt." Jack ate some more candy and followed, letting the stranger lead the way. The crowd parted for him without too much trouble which was just as well because Jack usually had bump and jostle his way through, considering the lack of presence he seemed to have.

    Once they'd made it past the crowd, Jack saw the source of the commotion. A dark blue sedan, flipped over onto its hood and looking fairly totalled. The young man looked around a bit but couldn't see a second car. That probably ruled out a traffic collision, but Jack still wondered what had caused the driver to lose control of there vehicle. Perhaps they'd been texting and driving. That was always an unfortunate combination.

    Jack was about to call emergency services, if someone else already hadn't, when he noticed gasoline beginning to pool around the vehicle. A fire hadn't started yet and nothing had exploded. Yet. But that definitely didn't look safe. The young man imagined he could hear a banging from inside the vehicle. Perhaps a faint cry for help? Well, Jack had barely come to a stop before he was already moving toward the vehicle.

    "We have to get them out of there!"

[Vortimer]

Vortimer frowned, seeing the pooling gas and hearing the person inside calling for help. They obviously where trapped inside, the doors being jammed or something. Vort quickly knelt down, and pressing it hand to the glass tapped vigorously to get their attention. He then told them to cover their eyes and using the back of his arm which was protected by his gauntlet to smash the window out. He then leaned down, and reaching to his side pulled out his dagger. It was crafted from a marlin's bill as the blade, with a wooden handle that had shark teeth inlaid along the outer edge of the handle.

Reaching inside, Vortimer quickly began sawing at the seat belt holding the person trapped inside, slicing through the tough fabric with the slightly serrated edge of the dagger he carried. Using his water powers would have been easier, but he was to easily seen by to many people, and creating a pressurized stream of water powerful enough to slice the seatbelt held the danger of accidentally cutting the trapped person as well. Finally he managed to slice through the tough seat belt fabric, and replacing his dagger in the small sheath he grabbed them and gently helped them out of the vehicle and away from the dangerous situation.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack tried the door handle. Of course, the doors were too badly damaged to be opened normally. Things couldn't possibly have been so easy. The young man knelt down by the car door window and looked inside. A young woman was suspended upside down, held in place by her seatbelt, forehead bleeding. Jack figured she might have a concussion and various other injuries but hey. At least she was alive. If they wanted her to stay that way, then they needed to get her out quickly.

    "Don't worry, Ma'am," The young man told her through the window. "We're gonna get you out of there and to a hospital." The stranger proceeded to break the window on the opposite side of the car and he reached in with a knife. Anticipating his course of action, Jack crawled in from his end and helped guide the woman to the ground so she didn't break her neck falling when released. She was mumbling something as Vortimer pulled her out that Jack didn't quite catch. Figuring the man had her, the young man crawled back out from his side.

    They moved to a safe distance before what she'd been mumbling dawned on the young man. A baby! Her baby! Jack ran back to the car and crawled into the back seat. He checked the empty car seat but no one was there. Where was it, the young man thought. His danger sense started going haywire and Jack teleported the hell out of there. Just in time, too. He could see the car had just gone up in flames when he reentered the crowd and made his way to Vort and the woman. None of the crowd noticed because all their eyes were on the car they assumed he was presently burning alive in.

    "Whew, that was close. I'm sorry, Ma'am, but your baby wasn't in the car. Are you sure she was with you?" The woman immediately started panicking, screaming they'd taken her baby. "Who? Who took her?" Jack asked, thoroughly confused. She must've been hit harder than he'd thought.

[Vortimer]

Vortimer watched as the man ran back to the car. He watched intently, seeing the car suddenly bursting in to flames and seeming to consume the male along with the wreckage. Suddenly, a few seconds later the male stepped up beside them yet again after seeming to have perished amidst the flames. Vortimer frowned, eyebrows narrow at the male. He nodded at the male grimacing slightly.

"She seems shaken up, do you think she might be having some sort of delusion or another?" He asked the male, making a mental note to speak to the male about his flamboyant display of his powers when there were so many people around who could have easily spotted the fact that the male had suddenly been inside the vehicle and was not outside of it with out so much as a scratch upon himself or a singed hair. There where simply to many people around to be doing that sort of thing, and plenty of them where intelligent enough to notice such things.

"If she had a child, why would somebody steal a child from an over turned vehicle? What possible reason could somebody have for stealing an innocent, human child?"

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack shrugged. "I'm not sure. I found a children's seat in the car but it was empty. She might just be confused from her head injury," The young man paused and looked at the sobbing woman before continuing. "But she seems genuinely upset. I honestly have no idea why someone would take her baby, though."

    The woman continued to cry, asking for her missing child. Jack knelt next to her, intending to make some awkward attempt at comforting the distressed woman, when three loud shots rang out. She collapsed to the ground, her blouse or whatever blossoming red where she'd been hit. The young man whirled around in time to catch a glimpse of a figure pushing their way through the crowd. The shock was evident on his face.

    A righteous flame beginning to burn in his chest, Jack climbed to his feet, not even bothering to wonder how lucky he'd been to not get hit himself. He ran in the direction he'd seen the figure make their way through the crowd, hoping he'd get through in time to see where they'd gone. The young man had absolutely no idea what was going on but someone had murdered that woman and probably taken her baby. He was beginning to suspect her crash had been no accident, either.

    The dying woman would grab at Vort, perhaps latching on to an article of clothing. "F-find my baby, please," She would implore him between painful convulsions. "Save her," Were her last words as the light faded from her eyes. She was, like, totally dead.

[Vortimer]

Vortimer jumped when the shots rang out, but no pain welled with in his own body meaning he had not been struck by whatever caliber weapons had just been used. He grimaced as the other man left leaving Vortimer with a dying woman. He was not sure if the other had ran for cover, out of fear, or out of anger in an attempt to catch whoever had just done the shooting. He simply did not know either that male, nor the female who was clutching at him, gripping at his shoulders in quickly weakening hands. He stared in to her eyes, watching as the life was quickly diminishing from her and her eyes going dull. There was nothing the male could do, with no powers to heal the female. She was not going to make it to any sort of hospital.

When the female spoke, her words so soft Vortimer had to lean closer to hear what she was attempting to say. When she went limp, he frowned and gently laid her down upon pavement. He slowly stood up, looking down at her for several seconds before looking up to see if that one strange guy had come back yet. Vortimer could not see him, but he had this slight feeling the man was about to show back up in a second. It was not exactly like Vortimer was able to blend in to the crowd easily with his unusual appearance with his bluish tinted skin and green tinged hair.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack emerged from the crowd just in time to see the figure ducking into an alley. He quickly followed, moving around the odd straggler from the crowd. He darted into the alley and could tell he was gaining on them. Whoever they were, they wouldn't be able to stay ahead of him for long. Jack reached the end of the alley and stopped to peek his head around the corner. Finally, he caught a halfway decent look at the guy. In his relatively nondescript clothing, all Jack could determine was that they were a lean young man, features hidden by a hood.

    The young man narrowed his eyes as he watched the shooter talking with a couple serious looking types before the three of them went into a building. It wasn't terribly large and, there being so many unknowns, he just couldn't be bothered to drop his candy and go inside. So Jack made his way back to the woman. Maybe she was ok.

    She totally wasn't though. She was, like, super dead. Jack walked up to Vortimer, his eyes on the woman's corpse. How unfortunate. "Emergency services will be here soon. I saw where the guy went but he'll probably be gone by the time they show up."

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer looked down upon the dead female, frowning. When the strange male showed back up suddenly, Vortimer finally looked back up with a look upon his face. He looked at the male wondering if this stranger was some how involved in what was going on, or if he was caught up in the happenings like he himself was. Vortimer was hoping that it was simply the later, and that this male was caught up in something that was beyond his controls. It was time to change that though, and take action to against the person or persons who where responsible for this.

     "If they are not going to reach here in time, then it is our duty and responsibility to act. This woman entrusted us, and we are responsible for carrying out her last wish and saving her child as well as avenging her senseless death."

     He stated it matter of factly, as if there was no argument against his statements. For Vortimer, there was no argument against his statements. The other male might disagree, and that was his prerogative however Vort was going to make sure that this woman did not die for no reason. He would make sure to save her child.

     "Where did they go? You do not have to come with me, just show me where they want and I will take care of it."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Confronted with a strange look on Vortimer's face, Jack tilted his head slightly. What was the man thinking? Was he sad or more... Determined? Actually, the more Jack looked at him, the more the stranger seemed kind of sick. His skin was tinted a funny color and everything. But maybe he was just unsettled by all that had occured. He had, after all, helped to save a woman from an overturned car only to then watch her be gunned down right in front of him. Most people would be upset by that, I guess, the young man thought to himself.

    "Uh, sure. I guess we could do that," Was the young man's response when the stranger insisted they take matters into their own hands, since the law seemed likely to fail the dead woman. Jack didn't mind that so much, considering he frequently did that himself, occasionally for matters that were considerably pettier than these. He took off at a trot, waving for the stranger to follow.

    "The guy went over here," Jack pointed toward the alley he'd followed the shooter to. As they entered the alley and left sight of others, the young man pulled out his mask and slipped it on. "I'm called Ten, by the way."

[Vortimer]

Vortimer followed after the man as he lead them back through the crowd. He gently 'escorted' people out of his way with his hand, guiding them to move them before himself so he would not accidentally run anybody down. When they where through the crowd, Vortimer watched as the male removed his mask and placed it upon his face before stating his name. Vortimer simply nodded, in response. He knew that was not truly the man's name, however he did not really care whether he was given the true name of the individual or not. It was not any of his business whether it was a true name or not, so Vortimer did not worry about that. If the male wanted to be called Ten, then that was what he would be known by.

Vortimer grunted in response to the male providing a name and did not reply further. He was concentrated upon the task at hand, which was catching the people responsible for killing the woman. After all, was it not his duty to fulfill the wil of the gods, and Varos demanded balance. An eye for an eye, or in this case a bullet for a bullet.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Well then. The stranger wasn't seeming all that talkative. Jack, er, Ten, didn't take offense, though. The guy had, after all, just witnessed a woman being gunned down and stuff. And she'd, like, held him back or something to hear her dying words. It was all very dramatic, so he forgave the man his rudeness. Anyways, back to business. They were about to.. About to what? Murder a murderer? And his accomplices, too? Or were they just planning on detaining them for the police or something? The young man actually wasn't super sure. Oh well. Ten would just go with the flow.

    Ten peeked from the alley. The car the two serious types had climbed out of was still sitting in front of the building, so he assumed they hadn't left yet. That was cool. No one seemed to be keeping watch so Jack continued on his way, trotting across the street until he reached the building. He went inside.

    The building was a bit dilapidated and he could hear arguing and banging in the distance, but was probably livable. Ten didn't really care, so he kept walking. He headed up to the second floor, because that seemed the right way to go. Outside one of the rooms, he spotted one of the serious looking types.

    "Oh look! That's one of the guys I saw with the shooter! Wanna ask him some questions?"

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer followed the other male, however when they walked pasted the vehicle the male stopped. He quickly knelt down and laid upon his back. Sliding beneath the vehicle, he pulled out his dagger sheathed at his side and fished around until he found what he was looking for. He then followed the line, and finding the point he wanted he used his slightly serrated marlin blade knife to slash through the rubber hosing. He then moved the hosing deep in to the engine as the smell of gasoline filled the air and slide back out. He quickly climbed back to his feet, having successfully disabled the vehicle just in case somebody attempted to escape in it. He was not sure exactly what would happen, but he was sort of hoping for something flashy and...hot.

     Vortimer followed Ten inside, slightly behind the male after his quick stop. He finally caught up with the male as Ten paused to peer around a corner. Vortimer gently touched Ten's shoulder, leaning close to whisper in his ear.

     "Let me take care of this. I can get him to speak with out harming him, then we can dish out the punishment."

     He slowly moved around Ten, and looked around the corner at the male. Vortimer contemplated the situation for a moment, debating upon whom he should call upon. He decided upon whom he needed for the moment, and closed his eyes. His lips began to move softly as he began to pray.

     "Goddess Stheno, we need your help right now. Please, show this man your power."

     He whispered the pray, using his power and  his knowledge to cast a hysteria induced by the goddess Stheno upon the individual standing before them. Suddenly the person began screaming, ripping their cloths off as their sense of touch began to grow out of control and everything hurt them.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Ten noticed the stranger stop to vandalize a car and slowed down a little bit so he wouldn't get too far ahead. The young man wasn't entirely sure why the guy was sabotaging random vehicles on the street, but it worked out well enough he guessed, considering it had been the car of the two serious types he'd seen entering the building with the shooter. Now, how the stranger knew that, Ten had absolutely no idea. But he dismissed it, figuring it was probably just a lucky guess rather than something more sinister. It definitely wasn't safe because, as they'd seen earlier, gasoline was flammable and could hurt people.

    Before he could make a move on the serious type waiting in the hallway, the stranger touched his shoulder and said he'd get they guy to talk. Ten shrugged and stepped aside. "He's all yours."

    The young man watched closely, curious. He wondered how the stranger intended to gather information from the serious type. The serious type seemed at least somewhat professional, so he probably wouldn't talk easy. The stranger began muttering something and suddenly the serious type began screaming and ripping his clothes off. Ten heard a window open somewhere, but it was prolly nothing.