Fistful of Credits, [Closed for Wolfy]

[EnigmaticStranger]

[Golden Glove bar, Omega - 3rd of March, 2200]

The problem with being new to the business of killing people on Omega was that people did not often take you seriously, and that was expecially pressing problem for Colin. Street cred was something that helped you to no end when you dealt between various middlemen and people who killed for a living, even if it would not be the very goal of the young man in the first place. Fame was often it's own reward, after all, but right now he could have used it to find information about the whereabouts of his next target. Knowing where people you wanted to kill was imperative for the action of actually killing them, since searching through entire Omega for the one he wanted dead now would be a futile task, and would more likely than not alert the woman on the fact that he was after her. So, he decided to employ a way of gathering information few ever thought about: street urchins.

While it was true that the more commonly used information sources, such as Brokers, surveillance systems and other electronic measures were often useful, in this case they lost to more old-fashioned information gathering. Street kids were some people that few noticed but who noticed everyone themselves, althought it was usually difficult to get information from someone who saw everyone except their fellow kids as an enemy and for most of the time was correct about it. Luckily enough, Colin was one of those people who had trust from them, mostly due to the fact he did not mistreat them in any way like some bit more rowdy mercs, and often played to them as well as provided food. In this case, making oneself a belowed figure amongst those kicked to the mud was a good thing when you asked them to find someone. They were not all that important so no one paid attention, but there were so many of them that he had some eyes and ears in every district of Omega.

And those eyes and ears had really paid off, as one of the street kids was just standing next to him, holding out a piece of paper. "Here, mister! My friends saw her, and took notes where she went! They said you were looking for her..."

Turning from his drink to look at the kid in worn clothes, Colin nodded and took the piece of paper with a small smile. "Yes, I am. Tell your friends that they did a good job. That woman is very dangerous, so you should run and tell them to stay far away from her. I will be visiting her soon, you see, and there will likely be violence. Oh, and here is something in thanks for your help" he said, offering the kid a credit chit. The child nodded in return and ran off again, clutching the valuable chip like his life depended on it. Well, it was rather likely that many lives indeed did depend on it... Which made him glad to be able to help even in this small way. They needed such small sums much more than he did, and even if he was a cocky hitman on the job, it did not mean he could not feel compassion towards others.

Draining the rest of his drink in one long sip, the longcoated assassin got up from his chair, putting his orange holoshades on and adjusting his coat slightly before grabbing the long case next to himself and exiting the bar. It was time to hunt the most dangerous game once again... But this time, he had no intentions of offering his opposition any chance of fair fight. Sporting chances were for sissies.

[Wolfy]

[Omega Market District]

MaNy vOIcEs... MaNY VOiCes iN, oUt, lEFt, riGhT, Up DOwn, aLl arOuNd! So ManY... sO MAnY... DeLiCIOuS dESpAir.. iT's SO SweEt! False Colors paint their minds, denial and twisted fantasy rule this land! Is thsi the land over the kansas rainbow, or is this the wonderland far deep in the hole?

Omega was the kind of place she liked. Dark, devoid of hope, false colors of emotions to mask over the dull grays, bags of meat filled to the brim with all sorts of delicious flavors! Oh yes, she liked Omega, she liked it a LOT. But now was not the time for sight seeing, as much as she would like to grab the nearest Vorcha and drag him over to a dark corner, she had business to do. Yes, she is part of Bacalou. Yes, she has access to the galaxy's most dangerous and illegal substances but the Bacalou can't have everything now can they? Luckily for her, she's found someone on Omega having JUST the thing she needed for purchase, now if only she knew where EXACTLY that person was....

It was already the fifth shop she's been to, looking and asking around if the merchants had 'the goods' she needed and tears to her that they didn't. Not that anyone could blame her though, Omega's black Market dealers are everywhere but it's still so hard to remember who had what and which was it.

"POoR, poOr AliCe.... aLl lOSt iN WoNDeRlAnd aNd nO wHeRe TO gO.... WhErE IS tHe whItE RaBbiT, tHe hatTeR anD hARe?" Her mad muses were muttered over and over under her breath, eyes wide and lost as the world spun around her. "NowHeRe To gO, PooR PoOr AliCe.. WhAt ShAlL ShE Do?"

Diving into the crowds once more, the biotic weaved around and about the people and things, hopefully she'll find what she needs this time around.

[EnigmaticStranger]

Well, this complicated things a whole lot.

Colin, who was sitting on a pipe arching above the market with rifle in hand, was forced to reconsider his plan somewhat. He had anticipated the woman being somewhere quite populated: even the insane such as his current prey usually knew enough to hide in plain sight: it was much more useful than holing up in some iridium bunker. The overt public attention would not have worried him: things like assassinations were seen on Omega's streets in quite regular basis. No, what he had not expected was he ability to weave around the people and things in such an unpredictable and easy manner. Now he could not simply sucker-shot her from up high with his rifle without fear of hitting some random pedestarian. That would have given her quite an early warning of his intentions, and the battle would turn into drawn-out game of cat and mouse. With biotics concerned, trying to take on one in prolonged fight without proper preparation was stupid. Extremely so. Thus, shooting her from high would not do, but he would still need an effective surprise attack to cut this meeting short.

Carefully walking along the pipe to follow his still unaware target from his concealed location on the shadowy ceiling, the young assassin settled for quick jump down and simply decapitating her with his chainblades. It would be somewhat risky and would very likely attract attention, but it would be just about spectacular enough to boost his reputation if he would indeed pull it off. Fame and thrills was, after all, why he was in this profession... Money was just an useful byproduct. Being able to fight and best other killers was a sport unlike no other, even with the ever-present threat of being killed himself in the process of hunting someone else. So few actually rose to the exalted position of one of galaxy's best killers... And it was one-to-million chance he would be amongst those few. Still, it was something worth aspiring towards: that much he had decided upon right after making his first fully intentional kill.

Drawing his close combat weapons slowly and utterly silently from their positions on his belt, he waited until the woman had stopped moving. She was an odd one to be sure, mumbling to herself even whilst apparently looking for something. The crazy ones were usually the most dangerous, because stone-cold professionals followed certain patterns and could thus be oughtthinked. The crazy ones were bloody hard to predict, and usually they made up in sheer insanity in what they lacked in fighting provess. Plus, anyone associated with the Bacalou was enough to ring his warning bells. Still, this should be easy... Just a jump down, landing and horizontal cut across her throat would result in a neat decapitation. Bloody, fast and very effective: just as he liked it.

Thumbing the activation buttons of the chainblades and making them start up with quickly increasing whirr, he jumped down, drawing both of his weapons back to slice at the girl before she would even know what was happening.

[Wolfy]

Something wasn't right.

Alice came to a sudden stillness of her person as a nagging feeling of wrongness came over her. Eyes widening til her orbs were as big as teacups, her body shook form it's very core, mad, mad whispers within her head as the feeling just grew and grew and grew. She sensed something, but she couldn't tell what, wildly looking around her surroundings, she couldn't see anything wrong, there were too many faces, too many lights. The voices got louder and louder, words too jumbled up in her head to even make sense of anything! What was going on? What was wrong? What is she feeling, impeding doom? What that it? Was she going to die? No! No! That can't be right, the voices said nothing about this! She wasn't supposed to die here, not here, not now! What was wrong!?

Through her eyes, faces melted, colors were dancing from this to that, up was down, male was female, child was demon. White rabbits and Tea pots dancing through the skies, it was all too much!! Her breathing grew erratic, quick, sharp breaths going in and out, in and out. Head was pounding, blood roaring in her ears, Pyjaks were Varren, Varren were cake. CAKE!! YES cake!! Was that it? NO!! Not it! Not it! It was getting harder and harder for Alice to grasp 'reality', nothing made sense to her anymore, was she going madder? Was she diving into the state of eversleeping wake?

Tears threatened to come pouring down her eyes, hands pressed against the sides of her head, clenched into fists. She can't take it.... no, no, no, she just can't take it! Unaware, her entire body began to flare up with her biotics, raw energy literally turning the increasingly hysteric agent into a beacon of blue flames. Unable to hear the startled gasps and cries of those around her, she dropped on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably as she grew brighter and brighter. All around her, objects started to move, crates suddenly pushing away or towards random directions, bits of trash, used needles and tiny shards of metal slowly lifting themselves up into the air.

Suddenly, the feeling inside her completely enveloped her and with a gasp, she fell silent, eyes slowly widening until she screamed and everything turned blue.

[EnigmaticStranger]

This must have been one of the days during which the entire universe was determined to turn against him in the most crucial moment imaginable. In this particular case, said universal backlash took the form of his target going absolutely apeshit motherfucking insane for no reason at all when he made his jump. Now, normally someone going crazy would not have been much of an issue for their potential assassin: it would have just made them easier targets. Unfourtunately, there were some groups that greatly benefited from momentary bursts of madness, expecially in the front of combat ability since it was damned hard to predict what insane loons did. And sadly, biotics were one of those few groups that could actually utilize their madness without even realizing it.

Why? Because, quite simply, a biotic going loco usually resulted in lot of stuff flying around their immediate vicinity and knocking the wind out of potential attackers before they could move a muscle. And very unfourtunately for Colin, this time was absolutely not an exception.

Being pushed back by a crate hitting him before he could even land, the assassin grunted and cut the obscuring object neatly in two with hard strike from his whirring chainblades, managing to catch himself before he would oughtright fall down upon landing. Still, his momentary stumbling was a mistake enough, and right the next second he found himself hurling away from the woman, propelled by a sudden biotic shockwave eminating from her. Hitting the nearest wall with heavy clang and yell of pain, Colin collapsed down, his weapons powering down as his fingers were no longer holding onto the activation buttons.

Around them, people suddenly found much better places to be in, vacating the area without question asked or even much in way of consicous thought. On Omega, shootups and fights in middle of the streets (or what passed for those in there anyway) were so routine things that no one thought anything of them other than just letting the participants settle their business between themselves. Sometimes such callous disregard for the plight of others shocked visitors, but anyone who had spent even some time on Omega knew enough not to expect help from anyone in the hellhole of a station.

Gritting his teeth, he let out a growl and grabbed his weapons, forcing himself back to his feet, although slower than he would have really liked. It seemed that he would be in small disadvantage to begin with, expecially now with the woman was returning to some measure of lucidity and had apparently noticed him to boot. Well, he sure as hell would not let this slip: it was his solemn policy to give everything he had to every hit he made, and he would not stop until one of them would be deader than dead.

"Nice trick. Let's see if it saves you this time!" he snarled and leapt to attack once again, his chainblades once again whirring in full activity as he ran forward, making a wild flurry of slashes towards Alice.

[Wolfy]

DEaTh'S hAND cOMeS...

In a whirl, her hair flies about in a sudden rage, eyes wide and filled with maddening anger that threatened to shoot daggers in the direction Colin had just collided into the wall. The scurrying feet of fleeing pedestrians quickly came to a silence. She stares at him, eyeing with such ferocity as he slowly got himself back up to his feet, growling and grabbing his weapons. She lets out a menacing hiss, teeth and fangs bared as she quickly got back to her own feet, tears no longer running down her cheeks, fingers flexing as her whole body glowed with biotics.

"Nice trick. Let's see if it saves you this time!"

"I bE No MAgIciAN, meReLY YoUr DeMIsE, WaNnABe ReAPeR!" She screeched, throwing a punch at the empty air as the Assassin leapt, bolts of biotics flying through the air with a chorus of whirring blades tearing at the air. Grabbing for her pistol with her right hand, she pulls it out to aim at the approaching assassin but had her arm pushed aside as he slashed wildly at her, making contact with the barrel of her pistol, sending sparks flying and pushing her off-balance for a split second and quickly kneed him in the groin before he could land another hit, stunning him momentarily and giving her enough time to deliver a swift backhand to the side of his head with her pistol, and biotically pushing him backwards.

YeS, YES! TaKE HiM!! TaKe HiM DoWN!! TuRn DeAtH tO tHE FAlSe ReAPeR!!

Laughing insanely, she reached out with an open hand towards a number of crates nearby, wrapping them with a blue glow before tossing them through the air and towards Colin. "ThE VoOdOo MeN sHaLl mAkE UsE of YoUr CaRCAsS, MeAt!"

[EnigmaticStranger]

Well, she seemed to be bit more sane than one could give her credit for after all. Some lunatics would have just tried to fend him off with their bare hands: all but the most lucky or skilled would have not found much success in such a fool's errand. This loonie, on the other hand, was smart enough to use a gun when she had one, and was apparently determined to utilize her ranged superiority with biotics. Both quite sound strategies, but luckily enough he knew the first rule of fighting against biotics: break their concentration. Using biotic powers needed immense focus, even with amp, and it usually took quite a lot out of the user even if they did manage to do what they intended to. That was why biotics were mostly used so much like guns: in short bursts that did not tax the user too much. He would just have to force her to use them all the time. That should tire this psycho out, even if he would not manage to eviscerate her first.

"I bE No MAgIciAN, meReLY YoUr DeMIsE, WaNnABe ReAPeR!"

"Oh, no need to make that big deal out of me, I am not one for titles, really" he quipped as he dodged the hail of biotic missiles with a jump, managing to bring his whirring blades cutting over the barrel of her gun, apparently damaging it and hopefully rendering it inoperatable. However, the reprisal came in form of two very unfair strikes, the first of which really did take him off-balance and send that made his vision swim some, but by no means took him out of the fight. He had trained regularly with an yagh for a while now, after all, and these hits were minor in comparison to ones Thrawl could deliver even without putting any real strenght to them. Sometimes harsh training really did pay off in the long run, it seemed.

"ThE VoOdOo MeN sHaLl mAkE UsE of YoUr CaRCAsS, MeAt!"

"I don't think so, bitch" Colin snarled audiably even through her laughter, ducking and weaving his way through the hail of thrown crates with unpredictable movements more than anything else, throwing his chainblade towards her in return and closing the distance between them with few quick running steps while she was still distracted by his thrown weapon. Uncaring of anything except his objective, he focused on fighting, aiming a kick spinkick at her knee and following it with two slashes with his remaining blade.

[Wolfy]

"I don't think so, bitch"

As the last crate was thrown, Alice's eyes widened to the size of saucers as the assassin's blade sliced at the air as it flew towards her, whirring blades growing closer and closer, threatening to rend and tear at her neck. Drawing back her head, she fluidly arched her back to a point that it almost bent to resemble a Candy cane, arms swiping at the air to help maintain her balance. Hair flying as it tried to catch up with the sudden movement of her head, the Assassin's Chain blade flew past her face, narrowly missing her nose and cutting her hair short an inch, numerous strands falling to the floor.

With an ear-piercing shriek as the Chainblade made contact with the wall, sparks began to fly as metal tore away at metal, a large gash appearing in the wall as tiny shard of metal flew about. Before she could straighten and face the assassin, she felt him kick at her knee, her legs swept off the ground from underneath and began to fall. She twists in the air, an almost panicked look on her face as she narrowly avoids the first slice of his other blade, palms bracing against the floor as she caught herself and pushed against the ground, adding a bit of biotic strength to it, her lithe form leaping into the air before spinning in the air to land several feet away from him.

LiFE BloOd!! It SInGs!!

Smelling blood, her head whirls over to her side, a large cut near the ribs, made by the second slice of the Assassin's blade. With his hiss, she turned to glare at Colin, fangs bared as her fingers ran along her wound, coating themselves in a fine layer of blood. Licking her lips, her tongue runs along her bloodied fingers in a sensually macabre manner, the sweet taste of her own blood causes a dark smile to appear on her face. This one was good.

"MmmMMm... SuCh a ReFrEsHIng SnAck!" She giggled, multicolored eyes flashing dangerously. Tilting her head to one side, she suddenly spread her arms in a sweeping motion and gave the Assassin a polite yet mocking curtsy. "ThAnK yOu Mr. CaNDy MaN~" Dropping the smile from her face, she entire personality takes on a more serious appearance, eyes now cold and locked onto Colin as she assumed a strange stance, her biotics suddenly dying down somewhat and concentrating more on arms and legs, pistol aimed at the Assassin, just as she pulled the trigger, nothing came but a rather broken click. Blinking, she pulled the trigger a couple of more times.

Click. Click.

Ardat-Yakshi tits....

No MOrE BoOm -BoOm?

Hissing in frustration at her toy being broken, she waves her free hand, bits of glowing biotics appearing all over the filthy floor as they slowly drew in towards one another, metallic shards and bits of trash putting themselves atop the other to quickly form a make-shift blade. "PiEcEs wItH yOu, OrPhAn ChIld!" She screamed and biotically threw it.

[EnigmaticStranger]

Even if he had timed and planned his attack quite well, he was still surprised that it actually worked. The thrown chainblade made a mess of the painwork of nearest wall as was normal on occassions he used it as throwing weapon, but the distraction caused by it was more than enough for him to land his kick. The first strike with his remaining blade did not quite hit her, but the second one managed to make a ragged cut across her ribs. Even if it did not manage to slice quite as deep as he would have managed, the resulting spray of blood and her momentary panic were quite satisfying to observe.

As she bared her fangs at him and ran her fingers along the wound, however, he became somewhat disturbed. Apart from those fangs (which looked quite unnatural on a human being, although with her being part of the Bacalou some mutations were to be expected), the things that made alarm bells ring in his head were her almost pleased reaction to getting cut up, as well as the fact she actually begun licking it from her fingers. Just what kind of mashochistic freak was he currently up against anyway?

"MmmMMm... SuCh a ReFrEsHIng SnAck! ThAnK yOu Mr. CaNDy MaN~"

Meeting her mocking bow with his own, Colin summoned up his omnipresent flippant and cheerfully assholish attitude, excemplified in his little smirk. "Oh, my pleasure. Let it never be said that I won't allow my targets the comfort of last supper before I end them", he mocked in return. Two could play this game of wits and trying to aggrevate their opponent into making mistakes... and when it came to taunting, he was a very good player.

When she tried and failed to fire her gun at him, he actually laughed out loud, his smirk changing to full-on grin. "Oh yeah, that won't work. What, you thought I would be stupid enough to let a psychotic bitch hold onto a functional firearm? I might be a cold-blooded killer, but I am not stupid."

"PiEcEs wItH yOu, OrPhAn ChIld!"

Colin's grin vanished from his face in an eyeblink and he begun to sidestep this latest attack, but it was already too late. The makeshift blade held together by biotic force impacted against his shoulder, and some sharp bits of metal managed to bury themselves to his shoulder even despite the armor. It was most definitely not pleasant, and even if his arm was still very much functional, the stabbing pain on his shoulder was still angering him.

"Now that...was not smart.", Colin said with a growl, making a sudden motion that made his longcoat flare aside and grabbing his assault rifle from his back. As the weapon unfolded and he took a firm grip on it, the assassin looked at his target with something approaching anger. "Normally I would make a witty quip about the way of your death right about now, but right now I just want to watch you die, so we will be skipping that part."

Without further ado, he pressed the trigger, keeping it down and watching as the rifle kept on spitting automatic fire towards the insane woman. After this job, he would propably need some stiches, but it would all be worth it once he would have her head on a stake.

[Wolfy]

"Normally I would make a witty quip about the way of your death right about now, but right now I just want to watch you die, so we will be skipping that part."

The barrage of rifle fire sent the crazed biotic diving behind a crate. Shields rippling along her body as bullets made impact with the quick shield she put up. "OoH.... ThE OrPHaN'S GaMe TuRnS MeNAcInG.... I lIkE tHaT.~" She winked at the Assassin in a sudden display of mild sanity, a delighted smile on her face as she knew she had just hit a nerve. Pulling out her SMG, she slaps in the thermal clip and suddnely jumps out of cover in mid-fire and unloaded everything she has onto the Assassin!

Her shields rippled and flickered as she took bullet after bullet, her left arm biotically lifting up several skinned Pyjak carcasses from the nearby eatery and tossing them towards Colin, quickly followed by a full set of cutlery and a couple of bolts of biotics as she laughed away as if she were a little girl playing a game. As her weapon finally clicked empty, she drew in a deep breath and suddenly let out an ear-piercing shriek, her biotics flaring up once again as her screams echoes throughout the station.

Everything around her began to slowly lift up into the air, an aura of blue covering everything that wasn't nailed down and one by one threw themselves towards the assassin one after the other in a hailstorm of random objects.

Using this as a distraction, she turns on her heels and makes a mad run down the street and rounds the corner, tossing a spent thermal clip over her shoulder before disappearing into the apartment complex.

[EnigmaticStranger]

"OoH.... ThE OrPHaN'S GaMe TuRnS MeNAcInG.... I lIkE tHaT.~"

He was quite dispointed to see that the crazy harp had enough wits about her to actually take cover, as well as apparently put up a shield to lower the chances of her immediate and bloody demise. Likewise it put an end to any possible hope of this whole mess being cleaned in any quick or effecient way, making him hate her even more. Why couldn't any targets just die when they were supposed to these days? And she was...winking at him?! That was just about the last straw to this whole crazy affair. He would kill her as painfully as his timetable would allow.

The soon to follow retaliation made him duck for the nearest cover available as well, the SMG nearly matching the firing rate of his assault rifle. The advantage was now on her side, though, because unlike assault rifles SMG's were built to be able to be fired from the run... Or at least it was easier to do so with them, and she had fresh heatsinks to boot. Sure enough, right after he rolled into cover, the rifle informed him with a red light that his current heatsinks were unusable. Cursing to himself, he popped the old sinks out and turned his head slightly around the corner to see what his enemy was up to as he fumbled to load the new heatsinks in.

Getting a skinned pyjak corpse to the face was quite unexpected, but he had known enough to expect various pieces of cutlery, one of which broke on side of his holoshades and another of which buried itself to the back of his hand, the blade jutting out from his palm. Cursing and growling again in pain, he took better cover, ripping the knife out of his hand. She would so pay for that.

The barrage of crates, metal shrapnel and various other items delayed that plan somewhat, much to his displeasure.

Eventually, the end of the barrage and hurried footsteps told Colin his adversary was fleeing, so the young assassin kicked his way out of the pile of random junk and grabbed his chainblade from where he had thrown it. He was truly lot more frightening now, with his coat somewhat torn and bloodied, hair standing in partially bloody orange spikes, and one side of his glasses being broken and flickering in and out of function, leading to visage of one-eyed demon... Expecially here in the dark streets of Omega.

Sliding the chainblades back into their place on the magnetic rails of his armor, Colin followed the trail of blood the woman had left behind, actually grinning as he did so and sliding his fingers along the small cuts around his right eye, smearing the blood from them on the right side of his face like a warpaint. Even if she had turned this hunt into quite an inconvinience, he was enjoying the challenge... And hating her with burning fury of exploding supernova. The resulting grin was truly creepy, expecially as some of the blood inevitable got on it.

Entering the apartment complex, he placed the rifle back under his coat and drew his metallic bat, a trophy taken from another unlucky assassin. He was not afraid: this was actually turning into quite amusing spectacle. Walking up the dark staircase and following the trail of her blood, Colin begun speaking, the single working side of his holoshades glowing eerily in the darkness.

"I know that you are here, so why won't you just come out and we can finish this? You can't escape from me: I will have your head sooner or later. Hahahaha. Honk."

Tapping his metallic bat against the metal walls as he walked along, his eyes searching for her, he punctuated the chilling metallic clangs with his own voice, one that was also starting to sound somewhat unhinged.

"Honk. Honk. HoNk. hOnK. Come out and we will end this circus, little girl. Hahahaha. HoooNK."

[Wolfy]

She didn't wanna leave really, but that outburst of hers that started it all has left her almost completely drained and the last one that gave her time to run had used up the last of her energy. Tachycardia beats of her heart hammered at her chest and against her light armor, lungs burning and aching for air as she ran deeper and deeper into the districts. Looking over her shoulder, she couldn't help but smile as the assassin's taunts sent shivers down her spine.

"I know that you are here, so why won't you just come out and we can finish this? You can't escape from me: I will have your head sooner or later. Hahahaha. Honk."

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.

She had her suspicions of this character the moment she saw him, with a short, breathless laugh that answered his taunts, her grin grew more and more maniacal. She finally found another shard, if somewhat small, of the broken mirror. Gleeful at finding another soul who was crazy but not so like her, she slowly came to a halt, panting and gasping as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Honk. Honk. HoNk. hOnK. Come out and we will end this circus, little girl. Hahahaha. HoooNK."

A crazed giggle answered the assassin's unhinged taunting, her blood leading directly towards her as her now excited voice called out to him. "So, ThE sAd CloWN tAunTs anD CaLLs tO tHE GiRL DoWn THe HOlE oF DReAMs AnD NIGHtMaRes BuT WiLl He CaTCh hER?"

The familiar burning of her throat nearly made the adept laugh with delight but the burning grew stronger and stronger, her body starting to grow weak as her thrist nearly became unbearable. With a light hiss, her eyes scanned her surroundings... there wasn't a soul in sight and the entrances of the many apartments around her were locked. BUT. She knew there were people inside.

With a beep of hir omni-tool she quickly set to work, opening up a random doors lock system, she shifted and cracked through the little defense it had before the interface turned green and slid open to allow her passage.

"What the- Who are you!? What did you do to that door!?" Came the surprised, and rather angry voice of the room's occupant, a middle aged woman.... oh, who was that behind her? Turning her head, she smiles as she spots a little girl, staring at Alice with wide, green eyes. Smiling, she bared her fangs and charged at the woman and without giving her a chance to cry out, she quickly sank her teeth into her throat. Minutes later, the little girl's screaming could be heard throughout the district before it came to a sudden halt....

Her strength was returning, quite quickly she noticed as she left the now trashed apartment, licking her blood stained lips as she smiled, turning back to see the very still body of the little girl's mother she merely blinked and then turned her gaze to the little girl who now lay curled up next to it, staring over her mother's still body.

"ReMeMbEr WhAt I SAiD, MeGaN...." She mused, her smile widening as the little girl looked up to Alice with equally mad eyes and nodded as she hid a knife in her sleeve.

"Get the man's attention... and kill him." She repeated, her voice barely a whisper, a small smile forming on her lips.

"GoOd GiRl...."

[EnigmaticStranger]

"So, ThE sAd CloWN tAunTs anD CaLLs tO tHE GiRL DoWn THe HOlE oF DReAMs AnD NIGHtMaRes BuT WiLl He CaTCh hER?"

"You can bet your SOUL on it, girl. Ha. Haha. Hahaha. Honk." was the reply from the assassin, along with the always advancing footsteps and clanging of metal bat against the wall. "I am going to find you and carve you open, and then paint the walls with your blood. Your bones will be grinded to make my special stardust. So come back, little paint can... Come and we will play. Hooooonk!"

And he would catch her, oh yes he would. That was the one burning goal in his mind, driving him on while the rest of his mind was in quite thorough state of chaos, insanity and general disorder. He was somewhat snapped at the moment, but he did not care: it really felt quite liberating to just...let go for a moment. To stop giving a tiniest amount of damn on what others might think. He had not even been aware how great of a burder he had been carrying for a good while now, but it was very apparent that is had been very heavy burden indeed to drive him into this special state of psychosis.

The recent hardcase missions and numerous near-death experiences, along with all the killing he had done as of late, had a great part to play as well, of course. He had not been exactly the paragon of mental healt after leaving Elysium either, but thus far he had been able to bury such things into cockiness and showing off. The perks of being an assassin had distracted him sufficiently to allow his consicous mind some perioids of relaxing and adjustment to the new situation, but now, right now...

Right now, he had totally and utterly lost it. And it showed.

Stopping the constant tapping against the wall, Colin moved utterly quietly, focused on the hunt even if his mind was in turmoil for the time being. It was not difficult at all to follow the trail of blood that she had left behind. At least the chase was not going to be a prolonged one, and he was losing blood much more than he was, along with being driven to exhaustion by his persistent hunt that conserved his strenght but depleted her own steadily. By now, she should be much easier to handle... And he had absolutely no intention of ending this quickly. No, he would play with her for a while. Death would be a relief for her when he would be done.

"ReMeMbEr WhAt I SAiD, MeGaN....Get the man's attention... and kill him. GoOd GiRl...."

"You think it would be that easy, do you? HAHAHA! Stupid girl...NOW YOU SHOULD LISTEN" the assassin said from the doorway, having appeared there without a sound and heard pretty much what he needed to. "You try to get her to...KnIfE...Me? ME? that IS very STUPID, but I applaud YOU for THE effort..." he continued, his shadowed form tapping the gleaming bat against his palm, the while grin showing creepily under the single glowing lens of the half-broken holoshades. Now he got her.

Stepping into the room, he dropped his bat in casual stance, it's blunt end scraping slightly against the floor as he advanced. Slowly, step by step, but still relentlessly. He would not hurt the child: that far he would not go, even in this state. But he could and would disarm her if he would have to. It was quite clever of his opponent to try and trick him into a foolish trap like that: were it now that he had arrived when he had, it might have even worked out. He was not sure if there was such a term as "hatecrush", but it there were it would be a good description about his current feelings for his adversary.

"There IS a THREE-ring DARK carnival COMING, and I am THE motherfucking RINGMASTER. HONK!" he said, his voice continuing to fluctuate between menacing whisper and creepy raised tone with just about every word. "Ring ONE is RAGE, ring TWO is SADNESS, and RING three is MOTHERFUCKING MURDER! So, LITTLE paint CAN, now, MOTHERFUCKING now, WE are GOING to have FUN!"

He raised his bat and attacked, aiming his wildly chaotic swings at her, one after another, without pause.

[Wolfy]

(God Eni, I'm loving you more and more with these posts!)

"You think it would be that easy, do you? HAHAHA! Stupid girl...NOW YOU SHOULD LISTEN"

Now THERE was a surprise! Whirling around with wide eyes of surprise, she blinked as the assassin had quickly caught up with her. With a mad giggle and a hiss, she licked her lips as she eyed the delicious sack of meat that stood before her and Megan.

"You try to get her to...KnIfE...Me? ME? that IS very STUPID, but I applaud YOU for THE effort..."

He's slipped. She knows it..... the voices in her head knows it. Heck, even HE knows it! Ohohoho, Alice was liking this man more and more with each new surprise he's pulled on her.

He iS TherE nO MORe, MadNeSs ReTaIneD hAs ShOWn tRuE CoLorS... KiNDrEd MiNDs, To BatTLe!

Straightening her back, the adept took a step back, putting on a display of mild fear but her eyes betrayed the psychotic glee that she felt. Behind her, Megan got up to her feet, brandishing the knife in her hands, eyes staring straight at Colin. Alice knew a knife wouldn't do much but hey, she's never had a little girl eagerly wag her tail and do whatever she wished.

"SO, ThE ClOwN nOw BeArS tHe MaRk oF MaDneSs aNd FULlY ShOwS tHe BRoKeN SHaRD. Now I WoNdEr, Is HE SIGNiFiCant pIeCe To tHe ShAttErEd MIrrOr oR jUsT a TiNy sMAlL pIEcE?" Upon cue, her body lights up with biotics with renewed vigor, her side wound had closed up with the help of medi-gel and now she was hissing and snarling at the Assassin like an animal, the hairs of her body standing up on end as a delighted shiver ran down her spine.

"There IS a THREE-ring DARK carnival COMING, and I am THE motherfucking RINGMASTER. HONK!"

It has begun, they circled each other, trading maddening words and whispers, their shattered minds filled with the wonderful passion of killing the other. Alice's fingers flexed, knuckles cracking as the flat surface of a nearby table ripped itself from it's legs and flew over to guard the crazed woman's left. She winks at the Assassin and licked her lips once again, rage, excitement, adrenaline and lust coursing through her....

"Ring ONE is RAGE,

"AlL ShAlL fAlL wItH BlOoDiEd hAndS...."

ring TWO is SADNESS,

"DesPAiR sHaLl ReIGn AcRoSs thE lAnds...."

and RING three is MOTHERFUCKING MURDER!

"LiTtLE GiRlS aNd BoYs ShAlL jOIn dEaD BaNDs...."

So, LITTLE paint CAN, now, MOTHERFUCKING now, WE are GOING to have FUN!"

"AnD ThE EnD oF ThE WoRldS WiLl Be BeGUn!"

With a scream of fury and pure insanity, she lifts up her shield and blocks the endless blows that came from the Mad Batter, insane laughter bouncing off the walls as she quickly pushed him back as she shoved her shield forward with a biotic shockwave.

"FeTCh MEgAn!" She hissed, the little girl that stoodby immediatel flew into action, latching onto Colin's back, the girl screamed and laughed with insane glee, trying to stab at the assassin with her kitchen knife, death grips around his neck as he tried to shake her off. "GoOd GiRL!" Alice cackled, Megan quickly followed but her laughs were cut short by a sudden 'Oof!' and groan as she slid to the floor.

In retaliation, Alice wrapped the man's bat with an aura of blue and with a pull, it YANKS itself free from his grip and with a wave of her arm it makes a wild swing at his leg before tossing itself out into the hallway.

[EnigmaticStranger]

(Here is some music for the scene )

"SO, ThE ClOwN nOw BeArS tHe MaRk oF MaDneSs aNd FULlY ShOwS tHe BRoKeN SHaRD. Now I WoNdEr, Is HE SIGNiFiCant pIeCe To tHe ShAttErEd MIrrOr oR jUsT a TiNy sMAlL pIEcE?"

Well, at least she had noticed that he had gone just a tiny bit unhinged. It was interesting to note how her gibberish started to make more sense now that he himself was in grips of murderous frenzy... Or it would have been if he would have focused on analytical thought at all anymore. The world was insane anyways, so he might just as well make use of his broken state of mind while it lasted. His Carnival was just getting underway.

Trading their equally insane words, both of the lunatics circled each other, their agression growing with each step, each word, each subtle movement made in preparation of attack. It was almost like dance for a second or two... but then he attacked, she blocked, and all the hell broke loose. The biotic shield blocked his blows by stopping the momentum, but she could only utilize that mean of defence for so long, and he knew it full well. She tired faster using biotics than he did when using his bat.

It did not mean that he would have this fight in the bag, though. The biotic shockwave that knocked him back was reminder of that very fact, even if he did recover from it without missing a beat, his creepy grin showing his entire row of teeth not lessening in the slightest. "NOT bad FOR a LITTLE paint CAN... can YOU do OTHER tricks AS well? MIRACLES. They MAKE life WORTH living FOR, when THE universe IS hidden BY curtain OF depressing GRAY. And NOW you LIGHT up THE world WITH blue FIRE and MIST..."

"FeTCh MEgAn! GoOd GiRL!"

The little girl latching onto his back and trying to knife him would have likely given him pause before, but currently he could not care less: he was the Ringmaster, and nothing could hurt him. Nothing could slow him down. The armor under his coat proved more than enough protection to deflect the pitiful knife-strikes, and in return the assassin merely grabbed the child with one hand, smacking her across the face with the back of his fist and throwing her to the floor. "NOT slaves NOR their STRIKES can HARM me, WITCH! HONK! I WILL subjuglate YOU sooner OR later, BUT very LIKELY sooner! Hoooonk!

As he attempted to swing his bat at her again, the biotic turned the tables for a moment by depriving him of his weapon and landing a solid strike to his leg, the impact of metal on flesh being rather distinctive. Nevertheless, even as she threw his weapon away, he was in motion, apparently not caring in the slightest about his wounds. Before she could use her biotics again, the still grinning assassin used his fists instead without missing a beat. Strike followed another as he simply did with his fists what guns had failed in, pummeling her towards submission. She tried to summon biotics with the normal arm motion, but he quite simply grabbed her arm and locked it behind her back, pressing her against the wall to pin her remaining arm while his free hand closed around her throat.

"No MORE miracles FOR you, WITCH... HOnK hONk", the gleefully insane assassin said, chuckling to himself. "Submit OR I WILL make YOU."

[Wolfy]

If Alice were a little more sane and weren't part of Bacalou, she would've married this guy just as soon as he uttered his first mad words. It's a shame there were trying to kill each other now though, he would've made a very nice blood doll and toy all for herself and no one to touch nor play with back home. Speaking of home, she really needs to pick up on her work... she's been slacking behind as of late.

"NOT slaves NOR their STRIKES can HARM me, WITCH! HONK! I WILL subjuglate YOU sooner OR later, BUT very LIKELY sooner! Hoooonk!"

Such a funny clown too! Never in her life was she as entertained as she was now! Both psychopaths exchanged blows, some hitting their mark, the rest either blocked or missed as the two moved about in the apartment, her fists and feet would flash blue to give that extra 'oomph' every now and then but the growing burn of her throat made her hiss as her thirst made her eyes turn red. Literally.

The whites of her eyes began bloodshot as her thirst grew and grew, her attacks more frantic, wild, powerful. But it wasn't enough to subdue the Assassin as her attacks became less and less accurate, each blow slapped aside or blocked by Colin's moves. Snarling with frustration, Alice attempted to backhand the Assassin as he did with little Megan but in a blink of an eye, the Assassin was gone from her sight and reappeared behind her, twisting her arm around her back and slamming her against the wall, bodies pressed against one another as he pinned her free arm as well, rendering her unable to move underneath her.

"No MORE miracles FOR you, WITCH... HOnK hONk" "Submit OR I WILL make YOU."

Grunting, she attempted to rip her arms out of the man's grip, clenching her teeth a- oh my such a strong grip..... Seeing that she is disabled, instead of giving up, she merely laughed. And laughed, and laughed and laughed. "HoW uNkNowLedGeAbLe Is ThE SaD OrPHaN ClOWn!" She giggled, with sickening pops, her pinned left hand twists in Colin's unbreakable grip, her wrist bones cracking as they broke.

The searing and unbearable pain that shoots up her spine make her hiss with delight and pain! Clenching her teeth, her fingers reach downwards and tightly grip the Assassin's arm, fingers held so tight around it, the armor threatened to break as Alice began to flare up with biotics, her entire body pulsing blue as power began to well up inside her. "ClOwN gOeS BoOm...." She whispers into his ear menacingly as the room lit up, the amount of biotic power going off the charts as her whole body turned into nothing but a blinding blue glow and then, everything just blew up.

[EnigmaticStranger]

It surprised him even in this mad state that he was getting the upper hand so noticeably when they fought in close quarters. Even with biotics boosting her strikes, he managed to match her blow for blow, and gave out more punishment that he took. That made him quite confident and even more amused: how had he had such problems against her before? It seemed that madness, unlike normal strategies, could really offer a power boost at times like no other thing. At the very least she was taking a beating, and he enjoyed himself with every punch, and when her arms were locked, he could almost taste victory. It was time to end this game.

She tried to struggle, of course, but his grip was wee bit too strong to allow such. Even if he was very young and did not have much in way of experience, he had been trained by an yagh for some time already, which in practice meant regular excercises such as trying to lift an aircar or sink one's fingers into hardened metal with force of will and muscles alone. Added to that fact, his current state of mental instability also lent itself well to the task of adding to his strenght, and so her attempts were in vain.

But then she laughed... And spoke.

"HoW uNkNowLedGeAbLe Is ThE SaD OrPHaN ClOWn! ClOwN gOeS BoOm...."

That surprised him, and quite thoroughly at that. He had not thought that she would actually still continue resisting when it meant breaking bones, but apparently this opponent was far gone enough to do even that. Before he could do much, she had gripped him in return, and the glow of biotics told pretty clearly what was to come in the following seconds. One fact pushed it's way through even the momentary insanity Colin was suffering from at the moment with perfect clarity: this was going to hurt. A lot.

Before the inevitable happened, he grinned at her, the blood he had smeared on his face making it look like quite devilish facepaint in the poor light, his eye staring right at her through the broken side of the shades. "I will BE seeing YOU again, VERY FUCKING SOON. I WILL BE WEARING YOUR FACE AS A WAISTCOAT BEFORE YOU EVEN KNOW IT, YOU MOTHERFUCKING BIT-"

The resulting biotic explosion sent him hurling back and right ouf of a window with great crash, a loud "HOOOOOOOooooonnnnnkkkkk..." accompanying the assassin as he was hurled bodily right out of the building. The impact with the street outside was enough to restore some lucidity to him, and by the time he had hauled himself back to his feet and begun to leg it as fast as he could under the circumstances, his mind was more or less back to normal, although the memory on how he had gotten so beat up remained absent. Well, whatever... Sometimes you had to accept the fact that you won some and lost some. He could try again later or take another job in the near future.

But right now, he intended to drag himself back to his apartment, tie up his wounds and lay in place until being him would stop sucking so much.