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In the darkness there loomed a single shape, or the only important shape anyway. Ian stood completely still. There were bags under his eyes and the cruel glow from his watch made his features look all the more intimidating. It had been a week and three days since the invasion, and since then he hadn't slept more than a few hours. How could he? Danger loomed around every corner. Evoknights wandering around like game. It was a dream come true. Of course. the destruction and death wasn't all the great but this was so much more exciting than sitting in his apartment wasting away. It was a little depressing though, he was probably the last of his species, unless there was some chick out there or something. Ian wasn't too keen on repopulating the planet on his own. Well maybe just- His thought was interrupted by the sound of boots thudding on the ground. Like a shadow, Ian flowed into an alley. He remained invisible to the Evoknight soldier.

A fanged smile broke onto his face. His moment of hiding was over. While some might have considered his next move stupid, Ian couldn't care less. He was the strongest boy alive! What could stop him? "Enjoy your last moments of life," he sneered. Then, in a flurry of blue light his Ichzer was off his back and in the air. It flew unmanned towards the 'Knight and finally collided with it's armored neck. Ian frowned when he noticed that it's head wasn't severed. At least the fight would go on longer. He walked towards his reeling opponent and aimed a punch at it's gut. The Evoknight was too stunned to react. It flew backwards, heels digging into the street. Ian shook his fist. "Ow." Wiping the blood from his hand, he ran at the Evoknight yet again, but stopped when he saw that it wasn't moving. Hm. He smiled.

ooc: I'm sorry Ian for making your debut suck so much. D:

Empty. It was all... empty. The streets were quiet except for the sound of flickering fire. Daylight peaked dawn and not even the sound of Sigmian birds could be heard. This place was ruin. Hit by apocalypse in one short second. The threat still loomed in silence. Somewhere an Evoknight always lurked, looking for life to eliminate. And why would they? Now it seemed like they were doing thing because they could, not for any real purpose. Maybe they just love to see fire and watch explosions. Suzie could admit that she couldn't help but be stupefied by the power of them some times. She was on the bad end of them now.

Broken buildings, craters, and so much debris. They were fighting for their lives on so many levels. They had to watch out for Evoknights, for broken appliances that may explode or from killing themselves on mistake. They had to watch for their fellow citizen. In times like these, they could and would attack. Sometimes she contemplated what she could gain from that lone figure from afar. The other thing they had to look out for was the animals that roamed the Xychus Zoo. Where all the exotic animals lived in Upper Sigma. All those that didn't die from the blasts were now roaming and killing people for food. She couldn't blame them. It was a good idea. But she wasn't at that point yet.

She'd almost fallen to the same fate as others. Now she rode a large animal of Sigma. She knew not what its name was, but for the time being she named it Rasputin. The armless monster was eating the remains of some other alien when she found it. It was menacing. Blackened and purpled like raw skin and red eyes hungry. The headpiece, horns, and the claws on its bird-like feet the only things colored lightly. They were of a bone-white and just as hard, if not harder than the material it mimicked. The only reason she'd survived it was from startling the beast with her powers and trapping it. At first, she was going to use it as food or something, but on a second thought she decided to use it for hunting. It probably had a good smell. She might not be able to share with it, but she could probably find good food. At the moment, it was tracking something. She assumed now that it ignored her. She had no way of commanding it.

The only control she had was from makeshift reigns she constructed out of wires. It didn't like it, but ti would have to settle. It wasn't a docile creature. In her hand she held but a long kitchen knife, or what the inhabitants of Sigma called a kitchen knife. No matter what it was, it was her only was her only weapon, save for a gun with little ammunition that she found on one of the dead. She'd need to keep that until she really needed it.

As calm as the moment was, it wasn't too relaxing. Yes, she had to keep her guard up, but other than that, riding this thing was pretty bad. She didn't want to lead it. No, she wasn't afraid the thing would kill her if it looked at her too long. Without a saddle, the back of it was uncomfortable and she could feel the spine digging into her butt. Not only that, but the breath it released so harshly out of its system smelled horrid. It wasn't that pleasant to look at either. Luckily, she viewed it from the back.

Still, with its problem, it was still pretty nice right here. Suddenly, the large creature lurched forward, running at full speed towards something. Suzie yelped, not expecting this at all and braced with all her might. Her hair blew back from the pace it went, whipping her from the air cutting through it. She tried to look past its neck to see what it was charging at. Her eyes widened when she was greeted by the body of another human.

"Look out!" She shouted. Even if the monster had forgotten about her, it didn't flinch.

OOC: Meh. *shrugs* XD

Raimaru sat, lax, against the side of a building, his eyes closed. He was much skinnier than he had been before the invasion, his muscles stringy and weak with fatigue. When the humans had been attacked again, he'd been told to run. So he had. And then, right when he was about to return, more Evoknights came. They'd cornered him, and only the instinct for survival allowed him to escape. Blood was trickling down his face from the attack, matting his dull silver-and-gold hair.

He'd found this alleyway a bit after the attack and settled down in it, only venturing out for food when his stomach threatened to consume itself with hunger. His last master, Yin, was dead. He'd seen her body when he'd passed by the graveyard. He felt no sympathy for her. He felt nothing at all. He was just an empty shell with a simple goal-to stay alive. Nothing more would matter. The only reason he had a goal was because of the stone round his neck. It throbbed with deadly red energy in time with his heart beat, something it'd started doing just recently.

He looked up, listless, as a shout was heard. He looked down towards the end of the alleyway to see a strange creature pass by. And, even stranger, there was a small girl on it's back, screaming and holding on for dear life. He wasn't surprised.

Rai stood, then watched out the side of the alleyway. An Evo's strange blood was covering the ground. Had the creature attacked that...? No. His eyes, dull and lifeless, lifted to see Ian. The creature was attacking him, it seemed. Since he had no orders, Rai could do nothing yet. So he stood. And he watched.


((FFFFFFAIL))

Ian looked on his kill with narrowed red eyes, his mouth still in a crooked grin. He thrust out an arm to catch his Ichzer as it fell from the air. It let out a soft hum, the blue ring of light on it's center pulsed. They were both signs that it was almost out of power. They charged on their own, but they had to be left off to do so. That meant that Ian would be left without a quick getaway. He cursed under his breath. Oh well. He just wouldn't have the luxury of getting away from a fight, not like he wanted to anyway. He flipped a switch, and the Ichzer deactivated. Just as he was doing this he heard a voice. Instinctively he dodged to the right as some sort of armless lizard came charging at him. A girl was riding on it, a human. Was she this thing's master? He didn't want to upset her, but he couldn't let this thing kill him. He grabbed it's neck and held the beast down. So he wasn't the last of his kind. Cool. It would've been nice if the girl didn't have some sort of vicious alien steed at her side, but still. "Hi," he said a little too brightly. It was weird to talk to someone else. He hadn't seen an sentient beings except for Evoknights since a week and three days ago. He had spoken to Evoknights, but the conversation was always too one-sided. "My name's Ian."

Suzie's eyes widened when she suddenly felt herself thrown off her mount and onto the hard, crumbled concrete. It was after she got up that she felt the sting. The scrapes on her were minor, thank the heavens. She glared behind her to see what had caused this. Amazingly, the boy she'd told to look out now held Rasputin down by his (she assumed it was a him) neck. The large animal struggled, kicking at the ground and tossing around its tail, and thrashing with its long neck wildly, bellows and screeches coming out of its lungs as it tried to free itself. She shuddered, getting a good look at its face again. It's gaping mouth showed two rows of teeth. The first row adorned with saber canines. The worst part was that it lacked the presence of a tongue, and the surface that it would normally be set in looked scarred and horrid. She was glad she hadn't eaten.

She put her attention back onto the kid who said his name was... Ian? Nice to know there was more than her and Carter. "Uh... hi," it was awkward talking to a kid with a seven-foot-tall creature in a headlock. "I'm... Suzie." Either this kid was extraordinary or just really lucky. "Are you uh..." She couldn't even formulate a sentence well watching him.

Raimaru simply stared at the two. There was other humans... He stepped out, influenced by the stone, to stand several feet away. His silver gaze landed on them, about as lifeless as a dead guy's eyes.

OOC: I had to post and it failed. D;

"Hi..." Ian repeated, his grin dissipating. He leaned back on the creature's neck, only holding the beast down with his hand. It snapped at him and flung it's tail around. Pathetic. He ran his eyes over the girl. She was about the same age as him, maybe a little younger. She had fresh scrapes, but nothing serious. He had hurt her when he grabbed the reptile from beneath her. It's not like it was his fault though, the thing had tried to kill him."Sorry I... made you fall." He wanted to dispose of this creature so it would stop making so much noise, but it was like her pet or something. He didn't need some girl to start crying about how he killed her pet. But she didn't seem to care for it that much. Maybe it was only for transportation. "Can I get rid of this thing?"

"It's fine," Suzie said, looking at her palms and wiping away the dirt that was around the scrape. She winced when it stung her, but the pain was extremely minor. "Oh?" Get rid of it? She could imagine what get rid of it meant, but did she want him to? It really would help her find more food, but maybe he could help her instead. Besides, if he let it loose it was bound to try and kill them. "Go ahead," she said, waving her hand. A sad thing to see it go, she supposed, since it could probably fend for itself, but she didn't want to die.

Her eyes widened when, with a glance, she noticed the Evoknight laying motionless on the ground. Whoa. "Uh... did you do that?" She pointed over at the body, astounded. Well, if he could take down that Rapsutin, then he should be able to handle an Evoknight. In her gaze she also saw from the corner of his eye another figure. He stood there at them a little way a way and gave her initial fright. She calmed a little bit to see he was a human, but.... Geez, where were all the humans she did know?

"Uh... Hi?"

Rai stared at them with an intensity that was there from lack of focus. One would think he was insane! At the girl's voice, a tiny flicker of life danced in his dead eyes, and he edged forwards like a frightened child. If he was himself, he would be that. Just a frightened little boy. If he was himself, he'd probably already be dead.

Nodding at the girl, he released his grip on Rasputin. Immediately after it was free from his grip it made a beeline for Ian's neck. With a sigh he stopped it from ripping out his jugular by using his arm holding it's ugly maw open. The inside of it's mouth was scarred, like whatever it had been eating didn't give up too easily. It's breath was musty and wet and hot, it's teeth stood sentinel to it's throat in perfect deadly rows. Ian scowled. What a disgusting creature. All aliens were, he supposed he couldn't blame it for being the way God made it. Rasputin thrashed it's terrible bulging legs against the ground. If he were alone he would have just punched the thing once and been done with it, but with her here he had to show some compassion. He could tell by the way she spoke that she wasn't eager to kill it. This was a dilemma. He had to get rid of it somehow, and quick too. He could already see another Evoknight on the fiery horizon coming their way. Dealing with both Rasputin and an Evoknigtht at the same time wouldn't exactly be easy, but the challenge would be refreshing. He bit his lip and looked heavenward. No, he couldn't do that and lead his new friend into danger.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I did that." He wondered how many other humans could take down an Evoknight with their bare hands. Whether she was impressed or horrified, Ian appreciated her reaction. Tearing his eyes away from the dead Evonknight, he looked at the much more lively one coming their way. They had to go. He cuffed Rasputin in the side of the head, hoping it would just be knocked out. It sank to the ground with a noise similar to the cry of an eagle. It's tail thumped at the soil a few more times before becoming motionless. He didn't give it a second glance. Pointing at the soldier now only several meters away, he turned to Suzie."Let's go."

Mm? Suzie looked behind her to see the Evoknight approaching. At the moment, it didn't seem too alarmed. Her eyes widened. That was bad. "Um..." She could barely get the yes out of her mouth. She just nodded, sparring a shocked glance to what she wasn't sure was the former Rasputin and then to the boy. But what about him? Maybe he would follow. But where could they even go from here? In some building and just wait? How would they know when the danger was clear? The dead Evoknight just next to them would set it off.

She started off first, not sure where to go, but knowing she had to from away from here. Hopefully Ian would take over as they went.

OOC: Fail.

Rai felt her eyes light on him. Then move away. He looked up. Saw the Evoknight. He felt anger stirring up in him, but he had no orders to perform. His gaze hardened into a glare as he started following Ian and Suzie. The only sentient beings in the place that wouldn't kill him... Only logical to follow, no?

OOC: Double fail.

Ian frowned. How was he supposed to do this? Run and expect her to follow? She might be slow, she could fall. He didn't really want to carry her, that would be a little uncomfortable. But he had to. He hoped she wouldn't misconceive this as being romantic or anything. "Uh." He looked from Suzie to the Evoknight. Time to go. Without much effort, he hefted the bigger girl and ran. He tried not to bounce her around too much, but it was hard to run fast and keep steady. He still hadn't noticed Raimaru in the near distance. How could he? The boy didn't' stand out much, and there was more important things to worry about. So Ian ran with Suzie in his arms. He ducked into alleys and twisted around buildings. Hopefully they'd lose it easily. After running for about five minutes they reached a building. A warehouse by the looks of it. He set Suzie down and stepped inside. "We can hide here."

ooc:

Suzie stepped down, looking back out. Quite a run, and it didn't seem as if they were pursued. Good, good. She didn't want hounds behind him and neither did he, she was sure. By the looks of the place they were in now, it seemed completely deserted, but what in this city wasn't? There was nothing here as far as she could tell. There could always be something lurking around here.

"Thank you," she told him gratefully. She wouldn't do much good against an Evoknight. She didn't have fast reaction with her power yet. "I hope you don't mind my asking," she started, "but where are you staying?"


OOC: I didn't feel like ruining that more than it already was.

"You're welcome," Ian murmured. "Staying? I haven't stayed anywhere. I haven't stopped moving for three days. How can I?"

He ran his too-bright eyes over what he could see of the dilapidated warehouse. "As long as this place doesn't fall in on us, I think we should be okay." The room they were in was large and empty. There were no windows, and the only light came through the open doorway. Ian stood with his back to the outside and to Suzie. This place seemed like a tomb to him, but it would work.

Without warning, a happy chirp echoed through the building. He stiffened before realizing that it was just his Ichzer. The ring of light on the center flashed red. Not bothering to turn it on, he took it off of his back. "We should probably move away from the entrance, but not too far because we want to know if any Evoknights come in." He walked farther into the building, letting the darkness swallow him. It was calm here. He could almost sleep. He had chosen to fight it the last three nights, but now he gave up. Suzie would have to fend for herself for awhile, at least until something loud enough woke him up. Ian searched for a wall to lean on. "I think we should be safe here for awhile." His voice trailed off and he slumped slowly down the wall until he was in a sitting position, his head down. He was asleep.

ooc: Mur

Suzie nodded, turning from outside, which she peered at cautiously, and stepped into the darker depths of the warehouse. It looked like she'd walked into a dead animal and was looking at it s dead remains from the inside out. It was quite interesting and so terribly eerie. Hm. Oh! "Ian, do you--?" She cut herself off, noticing that the boy had fallen asleep on the wall. She herself wasn't tired at all, she couldn't see how he was. That Evoknight they'd seen. It unnerved her. How could he sleep? It could be at them in their sleep and they'd die in their dreams! She smiled, looking at him. Maybe she should be happier. He was confident enough to sleep so easily, and with the Evokinght she'd seen and how easily she handle--the early--Rasputin, she couldn't say he was doing it without justification. That, or he was a fool and she was just as bad following him.

Oh well, she supposed. Maybe it would turn around and not even come there way. Hopefully, yes. Suzie strolled around the warehouse, looking at the broken things. By the looks of it, it seemed like it was used as a factory whether than for storage. There were conveyor belts, pulleys, lifts, machines. All of them untouched or destroyed or forgotten. It was like a metal graveyard. Not as depressing as a normal one, but still giving that forbidding feeling. It made her want to go deeper into the place. So far until her footsteps echoed around like she was in the emptiest cave. Deep where the creepy feeling turned into mystical wonder. Like the mystery was fueling every step and there was no possible way to stop until the very end was reached.

But surely... Surely she'd get lost. Luckily the warehouse didn't go back that far, but she could continue her travel up the bar stairs that led to the observers domain. The metal clanked with each step, making the silence seem even deeper. The bird's eye view turned the grave site into a war zone. Every machine there seemed to be scheduled to be dumped into a mass grave. Unfortunately, there was no hole, so they would sit there to fester. The maze of the upper level was easy to travel through. Certainly since she only took one path and took no other path to see the expanse of the warehouse.

At the end of the not-so-straight journey she reached a partial wall with a window cut through it. Peeking out she could see that it was just above Ian's head. Just ahead she could see the light from the entrance that barely scared away the darkness. Oh, it was good enough, though. This was peaceful, even if this seemed like an odd place for it. An old warehouse. Heh. She'd think she'd be in a nice home relaxing or something. She sighed. Things are never like they're imagined.

At first, she didn't notice, but after it was halfway in she noticed the shadow of a figure stepping into the building. What... Who? Fright filled her. What was that? Friend? Foe? Some it that needed to survive? Ian was down there. What could happen to him? No, she had to wait. Every time she got excited like this it turned out to be another human. She gripped the edge of the glassless window tightly. Anxiety making her fidget. Well... Maybe... What if? Well, she was right to be anxious. Finally able to see the figure from the structures in the way it was clear that it was an Evoknight. The one they'd seen before? She didn't know and she couldn't tell. It wasn't important. That thing could blast them into oblivion. But it would probably get Ian first. Ian? Did it notice him? She couldn't tell, it didn't look like it, but maybe it was just trying to see if he was dead or not. It wouldn't take long for it to figure it out.

What would she do? Distract it? Jump in battle with everything to lose? Use her power and try to end it fast? That... She didn't like that idea. Sometimes--Hmphf, most of the time--, it was hard to tell what it would do. No, she couldn't risk it. There was just as much chance to kill Ian with it as there was to getting the Evoknight. Maybe it could-- Too late. She must have been more obvious than she gave the second to think about it. The Evoknight was looking straight at her, weapon raised and ready. An ear-splitting crack snapped from it when the weapon was fired and instantly she ducked down, hands clasping to her ears. Suzie gritted her teeth, hard concrete falling onto her head in bits while others flew far forward. It was a small weapon, but it worked like a heavy one.

She wasn't going to make it! If she tried to jump down there she'd be killed in an instant. She wouldn't be helping anyone. Terrified and in need a desperate help she called the one name she knew so well right now. "Ian!" She screamed. Hoping the boy wasn't shot in precaution of knocked out by debris.

He hadn't slept for more than two minutes before that damned Evoknight came in and started shooting. He just wanted to sleep. Was that too much to ask? Snarling, Ian rose to his feet. "Alright you ugly fucker, let's get this over quick."

The Evoknight turned to him and raised it's weapon, but Ian was too fast. It didn't seem frightened or even startled. Ian was sure that these things didn't have any emotion. All Evoknights were evil, ugly, emotionless pawns to whoever they served. Did they even have minds of their own? He narrowed his eyes. While it was trying to get a good aim he ran straight at it and swatted the gun out of it's scaly hands. The firearm fired when it hit the ground. The projectile soared through the air right past Suzie's head and into a piece of machinery. Ignoring the sound of metal exploding, Ian raised his fist into the air and brought it back down on the Evoknight's face plate. He prepared for the sting of it's rock hard body on his hand. As his fist collided with it's face the Evoknight stumbled backwards until it was pressed against a wall.

Ian clutched his hand, it hurt like hell. Unluckily for the Evoknight this only made Ian angrier at it's appearance. In the next moment he was in the air, his unnaturally red vest trailing behind him. Blood dripped from his knuckles as he slammed it's head into the wall. The Evoknight had stopped moving, but Ian didn't stop until the wall began to crumble. Finally he let the Evoknight's body sink to the ground. With an edge still on his voice, he called for Suzie. "Suzie? SUZIE! Are you okay?" He ran to where he thought she was. Please be okay.

Another loud crack from the weapon sounded off. In an instant she felt incredible heat pass her head and she opened them to see what it had been, thankful that it hadn't killed her. The green beam that flew forward collided with one of the old machines, igniting and causing a loud explosion to come through, burning the roof and charring other machines around it. Suzie ducked down on the metal on instinct, her frightened scream drowned out by the loud sound. The heat licked her skin to the point of burning before it died away in a small area. The clanks of debris sounded out everywhere, and luckily for her, none seemed to be too close to her. For a long moment, silence overcame the place. What had happened? Was Ian still alive? Was the Evoknight? Her heart pounded at record speeds, making her think that she may have a heart attack from it. People have died from fright before.

The crumble of something echoed through the sound of burning fire. But still... Nothing. Was he alive? Was he dead? Her heart soared when she heard his voice calling for her. Alive. Thank the gods. Suzie lifted herself up shakily, using the walls next to her to lift herself up. The sudden rush of adrenaline and her fear caused her legs to tremble uncontrollably. She didn't think she could stay up on her own.

"I-I'm fine, I-Ian." She stammered down to wherever she was. At the most, she had scratches and would come out of this with a bad headache and rocks in her hair. Hopefully Ian was doing better.

Thank God, she was okay. "Suzie, just stay there, okay?" Ian clambered over heaps of twisted metal. There were some wicked devices here. What was this place? Some sort of medical warehouse? She was shaking, but other than that she looked okay. It was hard to tell in the dim light. He put his hands on her shoulders and brought her down slowly into a sitting position so she wouldn't fall. "Are you sure you're alright?" He sat down about a foot in front of her and leaned on a hunk of cement. He knew he couldn't sleep now, no matter how tired he was. He gave her a weak smile, "I guess I won't be sleeping tonight."

ooc: BLEHMEH

Suzie sighed in relief. He looked fine all right. The stench of blood reached into her nose and she looked down at their source, seeing it all on Ian's hands. Was that his or...? She protested in small murmurs as he pushed her down, but made no effort in resistance and just took it. Fine, fine. She'll sit.

"I'm fine. Just a little sh-shook up is all." The excitement was subsiding. She'd be fine in moments. She could still feel the tremble in her legs and half expected them to get up and run a mile to get rid of the sensation. It would make her more comfortable, that was for sure. "Are you?" His next comment made her frown. Not sleep? Well, she knew the danger of their most recent situation, but... "Not sleep? You gotta go to bed sometimes, Ian."

OOC: Failblargle. :3

"You saw what happened after I tried to last time. I should probably... move closer to the door and... wait..." His voice trailed off. He was asleep. His head fell into his chest and lolled to the side. After a few seconds he snapped awake again. "I'm going to go keep watch." He ran his fingers through his hair and rose stiffly to his feet. On his way to the rectangle of light that was the entrance, he passed the Evoknight. It's gun lay a few feet away, on top of a cement slab. Ian, without thinking, picked it up. He could probably use this. How hard could it be to operate? Guns were pretty simple, even in other diminsions it seemed. There was a trigger, sure enough, but it was shaped so that it couldn't be easily operated by a human. "Too bad," Ian mused aloud. Shooting one of those bastards with their own weapon might be kind of fun. He returned the gun back to it's previous position. "So Suzie. Do you know if there's any other humans?"

ooc:DOOOP

Suzie frowned in concern, watching Ian fall asleep on his own sentence. She felt bad for the whole Evoknight thing now, even if it wasn't her fault. "But... Ian..." She trailed off as he left, rethinking. Well, they had just got attacked. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to sleep, but... What were the odds that another ones would come? Very slim, it must be. How many Evoknights were still walking around? True, she saw one about every other day, but... still. This was one less.

She caught the echo of a murmur and turned over onto her knees and looked through the window. Down there she saw Ian holding the weapon of the Evoknight. He wasn't going to use that, was he? Especially with him as tired as he was. Did he even know how to operate it? She didn't think it was as easy as the ones on Earth were. Probably had more recoil too... Suzie sighed in relief, watching him put it down. Thank God.

"Yes. Two, I think." Carter, and that boy she saw earlier. She wouldn't know if there were any others.

"We need to go find them," he said simply, eyes on the rising sun. The night was over, no time to sleep now. Eh, Suzie might need the rest. They could stay here for a little while, but they had to move quickly.

ooc: Made in a minute... Thread over, mayhaps?

"I know where we can find Carter," she said getting up. It seemed like they would go now. She stood herself up, her legs feeling tired. She'd walk it off. She'd gone a whole day and night without sleeping it seemed, and even if she needed it she wasn't going to. With Ian running around wide awake she was half afraid he'd collapse at the wrong time. She didn't want to risk that. She'd stay awake with him, she was determined. He seemed like he wanted to do things now anyways. She couldn't hold him up for two seconds of shut eye, epecially when his nap was interrupted by guns.

Suzie marched her way down there, feeling a little confident, but mostly determined. "It's not too far away," she said, stepping out and leading the way to Carter.

OOC: I guess. XP