Did You Get What You Wanted?

Natomi took cue from the others and got a hiding place, dragging Dysis along and telling them to be quite.

* *

Manny almost rolled his eyes. It seemed Jack was oblivious or just ignoring the balant flirting but knowing him he was just ignoring it. Hopefully Charity did have information, however small of something they didn't already know.

After a few seconds, someone comes out of the building. It was Vladimir! He locks the door, takes a look around, then taps his earpiece " Yes, what is it?" he starts off "What do you mean you can find him? He got to be Somewhere!...You found another?" he gets out of ear shot by then.

Once he was gone and wasn't coming back, Marcen and Dixiw come out of their hiding spots "Who's that guy? He smelled like motor oil." she snorts.

Marcen nods "He's the one holding our target hostage...My target..." he corrects himself as he looks over the lock "Natomi, could you handle this lock for me?" he asks.

Dixie rolls her eyes "Let me guess, you're going to look for traps? Thought so." she grumbles.

* *

Jack was, indeed, ignoring Charity's flirtatious passes. She soon gives up and pulls out one of those Bone Charms that came with the outfit that the Outsider gave Jerod "He told me that these had special properties and that anyone with our marks could use them." she says.

Jack thinks for a bit "I see..." he says with a nod "Did he happen to tell you What, exactly, they did?" he asks.

Charity shakes her head "No, but he Did say that I could increase the power of my 'gift' by getting..." she reaches into a back pocket and pulls out a Strange Rune "One of these."

Natomi came from her hiding place along with Dysis once it seemed like the coast was clear for now. She was looking over the lock and touching it getting a feel of the thing. If it was too sturdy to break normally, she was just going to melt it to scrap.

* *

"If I may ask," Emanulle interjected. "What did you mean earlier by the mark being a curse?"

Dixie was still by the front door and was watching Natomi "Well, are you gonna pick the lock or aren't you?" she asks in a frustrated tone.

Marcen comes back, landing silently by Dysis "Funny. There's no guards, no cameras, hell, there's no security." he says in a slight puzzled tone.

* *

Charity shrugs "Well, having a strange power forced upon you, then learning that there are others willing to Kill you to Get this power, which you didn't ask for in the first place, isn't what I would call a 'blessing'." she says with a healthy dose of sarcasm added to the mix.

Alice didn't pay her scarcasm any mind "You keep mentioning that you have a power of some kind, may I ask what it is?" she asks in an even tone.

Charity shrugs again"I have the power to see others through solid objects, in the dark or where ever. I can also see their line of sight, how far they can see and of their vision's bad." she says simpily.

Natomi ignored Dixie's comment after looking over the lock and began opening it(with a hair clip and a bit of work) she managed to get it open. She was glad ninja training typically came with things like this besides fighting but she rarely had a use for it.

Dysis was almost a bit startled simply because he hadn't heard Marcen before he was just there. "I don't know much about the man, but people normally only have a lock or something at most. It could simply be they don't have any enemies to worry about so nothing but the normal measures were needed or its something we can't yet see."

* *

Manny didn't either, he had gotten what he wanted which was a confirmation of how the Outsider ran things. His point earlier to Marcen and the others was that the Outsider might not have been "evil" per say but they didn't particularly care if a person wanted the powers or not. Bigger point, it was his powers and he had set it up that way in the first place.

It was similar to putting someone in a trap maze, warning them of the most dangerous traps and telling them they could quit but there was only one set of keys to the exit. In order to get free you had to kill the person with the keys. He had a special disdain for those like the Outsider, more so then the typical easily spotted cackling villian seen in a show.

They represented something far more closer to real life and more dangerous.

Marcen nods slowly "Or, it could be that he's so confident that no one'll find Tracy that he didn't even bother with security." he says [colpr=white]"Still, it's best to be cautious."[/color] he points out.

* *

Jack nods "That Does sound like it could be trouble. Especially if it happens when you leaxt expect it to. he says.

Charity nods as well "Yup. Now, I told you what I know, it's your turn to spill it. What do you know about the Outsider?" she asks.

"If you could excuse me fpr a moment." he says and heads over to Alice and Manny "If one of you would kindly get Jerod and Ramona and bring them here. I'm sure Jerod would be able to answer Charity's questions better then myself." he asks.

"No, I agree with you." Dysis was a cautious person normally so he didn't need to be told twice.

At that moment Natomi came to the two. "I'll keep watch while you go inside, I think you're better at recognizing traps and such as is. "

*  *

Emanulle was the one who ended up doing it, but with how Ramona was it really didn't take long for her and Jerod to get there besides a few moments from being interrupted of something.

Once they arrived Jerod approached Charity with Ramona to greet them. "My name is Jerod and this is my fiance Ramona, I'd be more then happy to answer what I can about the Outside since I was marked as well. Keep in mind what we do know is limited but I'll do what I can."

Marcen stops, listens for a bit "Tracy knows someome's here. I can hear her struggling, what sounds like a chair... And a muffed voice. Which tells me she's been bound and gagged." he says as he checks the entrance for traps, then heads on in.

Dixie just folds her arms and waits, then focuses on Dysis "Hey, after we rescue your girlfriend, what next?" she asks "No doubt the Terminator will 'Be Back' and see his prize is missing and come after her. How do you plan on stopping him?"

* *

The Zoanthrope nods,to Jerod "Charity. Nice to meet you." she says "So, what special trick did our mutual friend give you and may I assume you don't want yours any more than I want mine?" she asks.

Dysis shook his head. "She's not my girlfriend she's an aquatience, and I don't know. Obviously, she can't just go back home since he could just track her down and put her family in potential danger."

Natomi didn't say anything verbally to Marcen, though she did hear him. She did respond. "We can take Tracy under our protection, its part of our job but we have to talk to her first. The police are honestly outdated when it comes to dealing with anything that aren't mundane humans. I get they have Hunters to fall back on but in a way I think their reliance on them have made them stagnate. But its just my opinion."

* *
(To be honest, not sure what Jerod's does if was ever told. It's been too long)

Jerod sighed a bit. "I'm honestly not sure. But yes, he did give it against my will. He appeared in a dream, at least I think it was and handed a costume to me along with these 'gifts' of his. I didn't leap at the chance because for one I didn't know them, two they didn't explain Anything what so ever to me. Never told me any of the consequences, or if there other dire downsides."

"He came again and took my gifts, or so I thought. It turned out that wasn't the case as they came back to warn me of someone else who might be after me. So there's that, I guess."

There was a sound of electricity and the smell of ozone and a loud yell. Seconds later, a female, humanoid Bloodhound comes running out "NOOO!Why do I keep getting kidnapped by crazy people?" Tracy yells as she sees Dysis and runs straight into him!

"Dyson! There's a crazy dressed guy up there and he's after me!" she says as she hides behind him.

Marcen jumps down from the third story and holds his hands up. He looks like he got a bit roughed up " Miss Marsh, as I tried to tell you, we're the good guys here. Your friend, Dysis, asked us to find you." he explains in a calm tone.

* *

(Jerod has an abikity called Blink. He can teleport short distances , but he needs a direct line of sight.)

Charity frowns when she hears that "Odd. He made me go through some kind of test in an odd place to leave when he first gave me my trick." she says.

"Let the games begin!" the Outsider says, but only Jerod and Charity could hear him.

The Zoanthrope tenses up "D-did you hear that?" she asks, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Calm down Tracy. He's right I did ask for their help because I wouldn't be able to find you otherwise. We need to leave before our 'friend' comes looking for you. Promise we'll explain everything else along the way." He noticed Marcen roughed up so he could only conclude that it was Tracy's doing, which also meant she was a lot stronger then she looked

* *

Jerod frowned. "I did. Did anyone else hear anything, it was the Outsider."

Wonderful. Emanulle thought sarcastically. He wondered what the asshole wanted now. Ramona tensed, alert.

That didn't exactly put Tracy at ease, nore did she turn back to her human form. For now, it seemed, she was content to hide behind Dysis.

Dixie looks her brother over "Was some nerd girl too much for you to handle, bro?" she asks, a slight smirk on her face.

Marcen shakes his head "No. She changed as soon as I unbound her." he says, then looks to the others "When a Zoanthrope transforms, they release massive quantities of energy, usually within a five foot radius and anything within gets knocked back." he explains.

Dixie nods "Which means when the puppy changed, big bro went flying into the wall, followed by the chair that puppy was tied to." she says with a chuckle.

* *

Charity's eyes start to glow a pale yellow as she scans the park. She lets out a startled gasp and points "There's someone on the other side of those trees and he's stairing right at us and his left eye can see Through the tree!" she says in alarm!

Alice pulls out some cards and gets ready for a fight "I think he knows I see him!" Chairty says "He's raising his left hand..." the left hand was the same hand that the Outsider's brand was on.

And suddenly, Chairty sees the man just disappear!

Hopefully Tracy would relax around them eventually, because they were really her best chance of staying away from that creep. The only other alternative that would be worth anything was Maybe the Hunters. The last resort on the other hand would be staying in his cramped apartment with his roomate slash friend, which all and all sounded like a not so good idea.

"Let's just get out of here before our friend comes back." Natomi had something else nagging her. But it would more so once they got back to the group and other pieces of the puzzle was put together.

* *

Jerod didn't see the man of course, mainly due to the fact he didn't have Charity's gift. He could only assume the intruder was after him or Charity due to what the Outsider said mere moments ago. Between people like Ramona, Jack and Alice present should have been more then enough normally, but then again no one said they had to play fair.

They could pull some sort of trick, he wasn't going to be put in a false sense of security.

Ramona frowned heavily, wishing her sensing was much sharper then what it was. "Jack, get ready."

Not that he needed to be told twice.

So far, it looked like the third and most unlikely option was going to be the one that they went with. Tracy didn't seem to trust the heroes as far as she could throw them and she had never heard of the Hunters or whatever they were calling them selves now.

So it would have to be the third option, unless they got the fourth option of stopping Vladimir. Tracy was very skeptical of that happening, but who knows? It Could happen. After all, she could change into a hunanoid bloodhound.

* *

Vladimir frowns *Well, well... It seems that Zoanthrope woman can see me, despite me hiding behind a tree. This is something worth checking out closely.* Vladimir thinks as he raises his hand and suddenly time seems to slow to a relative stop.

He walks out from behind the tree and starts towards the two others who had been touched by the Outsider. If he were to kill them both, he would get their powers and like this, there was little they could do to stop him!

He looks at the back of his robotic hand, his Outsider brand was starting to fade *I have to hurry! My time is swiftly running out!* he thinks.

Suddenly, a red and golden circle with strange runes pops up around him, instantly freezing him in place and causing his power to stop and time resume it's normal flow "W-what the Hell!? Why can't I move?" he asks "What trickery is this? Release me at once!" he demands.

Alice looks around, seeing Vladimir "You were caught within my Spell Binding Circle as soon as you showed hostile intentions to anyone in this area." she says, trying to sound cool and collected.

"I have no proof of anything but you think its possible Vladimir is working with others?" Natomi asked Macen, referring to them on the phone before they had left.

* *

Emanulle hadn't seen them, so either they were too fast or they had some form of travel that wasn't easy on his eyes. "Good job Alice."

Ramona walked forward, arms crossed. "I say with what we have, our other friends will keep him out of our hair for a bit. How long will that hold?" If not too long she'd just knock him out but it shouldn't take too long for Hunters to come. While she suspected the man had harmed or killed people there was no proof, but kidnapping charges should have been enough,

Marcen nods "I believe you're right and it would make sense that he would have others to go scouting for him. If this is an elimination style compitition, putting yourself out there needlessly wouldn't be too smart." he says, still thinking "I think I'll wait here to see if one of his contacts show up, when he fails to show."

Tracy frowns (still in her beast form and still hiding behind Dysis) "You seem pretty confident that your people can stop Vladimier. No offence, but I've seen him in action." she points out.

Marcen smiles slightly "Let's put it this way, I would be surprised if our people Couldn't stop Vlad. Have some confidence in us. We're very good at what we do." now it was his turn to point some thing out.

* *

Alice shrugs slightly "I can hold him as long as I want. Unlike my Swords of Revealing Light (which I also have ready), this trap has no limit on it's time." she says.

Charity walks over to Vladimir, but was keeping a respectible distance "Just what 'Hostel intentions' did you have in mind for us?" she asks in a huff.

But Vladimir says nothing. In stead, he was studying the enchanted circle that was currently holding him prisoner. Looking for a way out or how to disrupt it's energy somehow.

Dysis did wonder about that, he had no clue what the group was capable of but they obviously had abilties so they weren't fake. He just wasn't sure how strong they were as a whole. At times like these, part of him wished he had taken training more seriously.

* *

Emanulle went to Jack. "Do you want to grab our Hunter 'friends' or have me do it? It'll probably be faster for you and you've been directly at one of their places before."

Tracy still seemed dubious, but for now she let it drop. She Did wonder why Vladimir took her of all people. She was no different from any other Zoanthrope. So maybe it was personal or something.

* *

Jack thinks for a bit "Ramona, I think it's best if you took Jerod and Charity to some place safe for the time being. I think I'm going to give Christine a call and see if she could get us some Hu-" Jack's words were cut off as a Powerful blast of wind suddenly hit him and anyone next to him! This wind also seemed to "cut" what it hit!

Being what he was, Jack was only caught off guard and knocked down, nothing more. Alice, who was a bit away from Jack reacts immediately by putting up a Darkness shield to block another blast aimed at her as she pulls out some more cards!

A third blast was aimed at Vladimir, bit by that time, Jack was back on his feet and ready for action! "Sound off!" he calls out.

His way of doing a head count and to see who was hurt "Alice, ready for action!" the young Heartless calls out.

To Dysis it was obvious, Vladimir acted like a sterotyical creepy clingy ex boyfriend as is even if the two had never been together. Or rather one of those of the same vein where it was only that in their mind.

Something did catch his interest though. "You said something about a elimination styled tournament?"


*  *

Emanulle wasn't as lucky as Jack to have a insane amount of durabiity that Jack had. In theory and time he could one day, with many, many years(insert more) worth of time. Probably more then a normal Arkon life span and certainly longer then anytime here.

He did manage to twist out the way, but his shirt was pretty much shredded to being useless.

"Charity grab onto my shoulder, we're teleporting out of here." Ramona had her orders, and having them here would be too risky since they were the target anyway

"Been better, been worse." Emanulle got out as he focused onto the threat at hand.

Marcen shakes his head "I mearly suggested that if it were set up in that general style, that it would make more sense to have 'feelers' out and about, looking for the competition, potential targets or allies." he clarifies.

* *

Charity was confused by the panic that was going on. This was a bit out of her league. She was a simple dancer, not a warrior. She places a hand on Ramona's shoulder "You mean like this?" she asks.

Alice noticed that the third air blast was heading towards Vladimir and Alice holds up a card, which causes the deadly air blast to hit a mirrored wall that sends it directly back to the assailant "Vladimir is the target! We're just in the way!" she calls to Jack.

She was starting to look worn out and Jack noticed "Manny, get Alice out of here. I'll handle this." he says.

Alice looked a bit alarmed "If I leave, my Spell Binding Circle will fail!" she warns.

"That makes sense." Dysis didn't want to be involved into things more then he had to, but just by doing this he might have. Of course he would of done the same he wouldn't feel right leaving someone like that without telling someone.

* *

"Right. Jack call us when it settles down." With that, Ramona, Jack and Charity vanished.

"It's a risk we'll have to take, come on." Emanulle had faith in Jack and he too was a bit woried about Alice. Never mind his own injuries at the moment

Marcen eyes Dysis and Tracy "You two should probably find some place to lay low for a bit." he looks to Natomi "I haven't heard back from the rest of the team in a bit. Something's probably up." he says in a low tone. Then finally looks to Dixie "And You, should probably go home."

* *

Alice didn't like the idea of leaving Jack alone with two unknown and hostile attackers "We can't just leave him to fight both of,them by himself!" she protests.

Jack looks over to Alice "Alice. Open a portal and get back to the base. he says in a stern tone "I will be fine. I'm a Lot tougher than I look. I want You to be safe." he says in a softer tone, as if he were reassuring his daughter.

Alice frowns, still not liking it, but agreed to doing things Jack's way. She opens a darkness portal and steps through. The last thing she sees of Jack, was his hands starting to crackle with electricity, then he disappears from sight.

Dysis had to agree with that. "You can stay with me for a bit Tracy, it'll be a bit cramped but we'll make through."

Natomi frowned. "Probably.." She decided to give Ramona a call who picked up. "Hey has there been anything going on? There's been nothing from you guys."

"A lot of things, I'll explain everything later. Jack and his ran into Vladimir and one other. I'm guarding Jerod and someone else so can't just leave. You two might want to check it out."

Natomi nodded and hung up. "About what I figured. We should get a move on."

*  *

Emanulle followed suit, he honestly didn't like it either but Jack had been doing this far longer and considering he had a rough idea what he could do(being told and experience are two different things) he should be more then all right.

He felt he should reassure Alice. "I don't like it either, but try not to worry too much about Jack. He's a lot more powerful then he lets on but doesn't let loose most of the time. You know the friend, Will he fought earlier? He's strong enough to end worlds with a snap, even galaxies, Even if Will wasn't going full tilt, the fact he lasted as he did says enough by itself. Not to mention he's a God."

He didn't think Alice was told the other stuff, so it probably all sound a bit surreal.

Tracy nods "I, uh, I don't have a problem with that." she says, a hint of her shyness was coming back "It's probably a good idea to stick togeather for now anyway." she mumbles.

Marcen nods "Indeed it is. It's also best to ask any family or friends to keep their,distance for the time being." he points out, then looks to Natomi "Okay, let's get going." he says, then casts a final glance to Dysis and Tracy "Take care." he says with a nod.

* *

Alice highly doubted most of that. Sure Will was strong, but was he Really strong enough to beat someone like Jack? Who could tank a point blank nuke and be fine, by the way. Still, she didn't feel right just Leaving him like that.

Though, she should probably start worrying about herself at the moment. She was feeling light headed. She knew,it was probably from all the excitement. She used a good number of cards today, and without a bit of rest, she normally felt pretty bad when using that many cards And a shield and portal, without Some rest.

Diana wouldn't like this at first, but once it was explained she'd be more then fine with it. He wasn't going to say anything about it to his mother or she'd worry sick and though she was full blooded unlike him, she was no fighter of any kind.

"You too." He gestured for Tracy to follow as he led the way. It was going to be a long week or however long it took.(Two are out I suppose)

Natomi didn't say anything, she was simply ready to go and check on Jack.

* *

Emanulle could tell she didn't buy much of it and sighed. "I'll tell you what, I'll also contact Natomi and Macen to have them double check Jack if Ramona hasn't done so already. I know full rest is asking too much with your worry, but please just try to lay down."