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Post by JeY k on May 22, 2014 16:55:11 GMT -5
Oh good, this desert town again. Probably high on list of places to visit for JeY due to how quiet and simple it was, plus the idea of the cave of wonders and all that jazz, but definitely wasn't number one. The weather was meh and sand was meh, but this is where he originally got his blindfold which he now treasures quite often. He's always hated using his human eyes for sight, but keeping eyelids shut was always a problem. He never minded it for a while, but he's been around too long now, but this was the perfect solution. It was comfortable and easy to carry whenever he wanted to take it off. He couldn't imagine this stubborn boy being too impressed by his strange eyes, however.
"I'll make this simple. I'm only meant to save you if you're dying, not babysit you twenty-four seven like you might expect. We hang out for a day so we can figure out how to get along, I check you into a place to stay, and leave you to do whatever. You don't have to see me ever again until you want to leave Agrabah. You won't find a faster or cheaper way to get anywhere in the universe you want, after all." JeY took a short breath, but would continue before the boy could really interject with his own opinion. "I want to make this easy for both of us, trust me." After that, he would leave the air open for the boy to reply.
JeY was mainly curious about just two things. One, who was this boy exactly? He had to be something remarkable to get Cherika's attention, let alone asking JeY's services of all people. She's implied some other things as well, which really makes him wonder why this guy is so special. JeY couldn't immediately detect anything about him that made him seem powerful - he actually seemed pretty close to the average human. Something obviously made this boy tick. And two, what did the girl see in him anyway? They seemed close, especially with the ground rules about touching, she seemed to be all up over both him and the dog. It didn't really make much sense, especially since this guy seemed like a jerk for no reason other than for the sake of it. Oh well, that's what JeY hoped to accomplish today.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 22, 2014 19:50:44 GMT -5
Walking out of the portal into Agrabah, Nero would rest his hands on his hips and take in a deep breath. He honestly depised this world more than any. The dry heat, the terrible stench of sweat from all the people in the air and lack of any wind, were just of few of his many reasons that he hated this damn place. Oddly enough, despite hating it so much, Agrabah was a place where many would consider the boy as a regular, but that shouldn't be a surprise considering he was a treasure hunter. With the cave of wonders just a hike away from the town, it was like a treasure hunters dream come true. Of course, Nero would barely make it out of the cave alive after every journey to it, but there wasn't much that Nero was able to just walk away from. Nero would look back at JeY, just knowing that the damn guy would be the first to break the silence between them. Nero had remembered the guy implying that Nero couldn't boss him around, but he really didn't care. The worst the stranger could do is threaten to harm him, and even that wouldn't do much. Despite being just a average human, Nero had fought plenty of people like Cheri and JeY before in his adventures, somehow always managing to make it out on top, so he wasn't to afraid of JeY. Besides, it seemed Cheri preferred Nero to JeY, so things were looking up in his favor, even if he continued to treat this guy like dirt.
Being lost in his thoughts, Nero would only half-listen to what his forced-ally would have to say, but it seemed they had a bit of common ground. Jey seemed to not want to be forced to be with Nero as much as Nero wanted the neon pink magical bastard gone, so they had that going for them. Letting out a sigh and shaking his head Nero would signal for JeY to follow him. "I gotta guy in this city who I use fairly often. He pretty much makes his living off of people in my profession, so I can arrange my own place to stay. But if you have to follow me there, so be it. Just stay close and keep a hand on your wallet... It's not exactly in a nice part of town." Leading JeY farther and farther through the city, the two would slowly see the nice part of the city fade away as they entered the bad side of town. Well, it wasn't necessarily bad for Nero, seeing as this was the part of the city the boy would frequent most often. Nero wasn't sure if that would make his escort uncomfortable in any way, but again, he couldn't care less. As far as he was concerned, JeY was just another obstacle in his path to getting this job over with, so he didn't plan on hearing any of the young-looking man's judgments if he had any.
Entering an extremely shadey looking bazaar, Nero would give the fat clerk a kind smile and a wave. The man was one who didn't look like he belonged in Agrabah, a large Italian looking male with pasty-white skin and a dark red button-up shirt. Nero had met the man the first time he had ever entered the city, taking refuge from the local authorities in his bazaar, so Nero had some trust in this man. Obviously, given the merchants line of work, one couldn't simply trust him whole-heartedly, but enough to use as a place to say. Upon seeing the handsome young man enter, the fat merchant would hop off of his seat and walk towards the teen. "Ah, Mr.Bleu , I had a feeling I'd see you again!" The greasy man would grab Nero's right hand with both of his, shaking it on the brim of being violent. He couldn't contain himself, after all, Nero was one of his most frequent customers, always buying the man's gear and tipping him well, so this welcome was a genuine one. "What brings to the city this time my friend? Going to loot some more riches at the cave of wonders, perhaps another mercenary gig? Oh, I know, you're just here to get a nice woman, aren't you? Tell you what, give me five minutes and I'll-." The overly eager man would be interrupted by Nero raising his hand. "No, no Franco, I just need a place to stay and some information." Opening his notebook and tearing out the page that had a few of his notes on the gem he was after, Nero would hand it to the sleaze-ball. "Dig up everything you can on it, and you've earned yourself an easy fifteen-hundred, my friend." Rubbing his chin and thinking to himself, the man would keep silent for a before extending his hand out to Nero. "You've got yourself a deal my friend. Also, now I wouldn't do this for just any body, but your usual room is on the house this time. There should be more than enough room for both you and your associate here." Giving the short, stoutly man a pat on his shoulder, Nero would tilt his head towards the back of the bazaar, signaling JeY to follow.
Most would probably expect the back of the merchant's bazarr to be a completely raggedy place, but that was the beauty of it. Moving the cloth that covered the store's back exit and holding it open for JeY, Nero would reveal the fancy looking hotel rooms that were behind it. Nero wouldn't expect to see any sort of shock on JeY's face, as the man had shown no sense of expression through his face since they had met. Walking through the fancy building behind the bazaar, Nero would get his name called out by many of the shady looking people inside, mostly the females to be exact. JeY would have probably pieced together by the time they were heading for the room, but Nero obviously didn't go by his first name in most places and Agrabah was no exception. To be fair, the only reason JeY even knew his name was Cheri, so in Nero's eyes, JeY should have considered himself lucky to even have the privilege to call him by it. After leading the man up a winding set of stairs, Nero would stop at a dark red door. Unlike the other doors, this one didn't have any numbers on it. Instead, the label 'BLEU' was on it in gold capital letters. Nero would be considered a bit of an sloppy bastard by most people, but the fact he had returned from the cave of wonders so many time, that gave the boy a bit of a celebrity status with this shady place. Opening the door, Nero would allow the man in while he plopped his bags down on the floor. Nero's special room would most likely be a truly shocking sight to the man. Having a large Television, dual king-sized beds and a stocked mini-fridge, it seemed like the boy had a lot more munny then he actually did. Hell, there was even a small tin barrel filled to the brim with Ak-47 and M1911 clips, just in case the boy would need them. Completing the room would be a simple basket of freshly picked fruit with a welcome note next to it. Doing his usual routine of grabbing an apple off the top and jumping down on the bed, Nero would finish chewing and swallowing a bite of his apple before talking.
"Help yourself to anything in the room, it all won't cost me a dime. We just gotta kill some time before I can get some information from Franco." Taking another bite of his apple, Nero would continue. "You're welcome to stay here for our little trip if you want. There's two beds and bathrooms, so it's essentially two rooms." Nero's offer may have seemed a bit out of character, but he wouldn't care if the man decided to stay or not. With how much Nero hated the desert, he'd almost feel bad to send this poor guy out to a different hotel without any kind of air-conditioning. After all, JeY didn't want to be here either, he was just doing a job for Cheri, so he was most likely suffering enough. If JeY could trust the boy enough to share a room with him after seeing the suspect people he did business with was really just up in the air, but it wouldn't affect Nero too much either way.
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Post by JeY k on May 22, 2014 21:07:05 GMT -5
If the only reply was for him to mention that he knew a guy, to follow him and to watch his wallet, then this was certainly a step forward. A little respect was earned, certainly, but it would be long before JeY placed any value in this certain person besides a set-piece. The boy seemed to accept the mutual ground they tread on, and decided to go from there. JeY was honestly glad, this would now be much, much easier. This kid having some common sense is probably step one of how he enticed Cherika of all people, someone fascinated by the quirks of others. Common sense wasn't as common as others believed.
"Works for me." There was no need to address the wallet concern, the boy would probably get a taste for exactly who he was dealing with soon enough. In fact, an attempted mugging would be an excellent demonstration point so that was certainly welcoming, though a group of two (even if one had a blindfold) was hardly a target. It was better to wait for a singular target, unless the muggers were in a group themselves. Odds are it wouldn't, and sure enough, they got to a shady-looking building without any trouble. Seems everyone around here was rather average too. He at least wondered what the boy was up to out here.
While his sight was certainly more functional than natural human eyes, the one thing that evaded him were pictures. Certain inks arranged certain ways vaguely showed up sometimes, but common writing utensils were almost completely invisible, certainly not clear enough for JeY to make out what was on it. Nero just seemed to need information, not something JeY could likely provide. Seems this boy was a bit of a mercenary then. He frequented the cave of wonders though? Perfect. JeY could easily stalk the boy without being seen, knowing where all the nooks and crannies are before he will. Plus, being able to teleport was pretty handy.
Through the ordeal, JeY would remain silent, but would move with perfect precision when necessary, especially when they would go to the back to check out the room. Unfortunately, the beauty was lost to the chaotic man as all he could make out were lines, dots, smears and blotches in various Technicolor, with lots and lots of black. It was rather impossible to tell if the place was well-kept or run down, aside from the layout of the furniture; except the place seemed pretty well furnished with everything arranged rather orderly. Impressive. Especially when they got to the room. He would make a note that taking a good look at the area with his normal vision was in order.
"Appreciate the offer, but don't feel the need to save anything for me. I don't eat, period." He quickly realized that the statement might sound a bit peculiar, but he wasn't in the mood to go into the specifics with someone that didn't really like him in the first place. He'd only acknowledge the topic further if the boy really wanted to ask, to which he'd divulge or make up information as he saw fit. He did like pretending to be something wackier than he actually was. As for staying here, it was a nice quiet place. "Well, if I want somewhere quiet to meditate I'll consider it, but I'll most likely be wandering tonight. Saves me the effort of getting a quiet space myself." Unfortunately, he also implied that he doesn't sleep. Two of his main abnormalities all in one go, but this was a rather typical conversation when receiving hospitality. He's had to describe on numerous occasions about his lack of certain human qualities. Of course, no one ever believed him until they saw him going a week without eating a bite or sleeping a wink.
For now, he was a bit curious. He reached up and slowly slid the blindfold off the top of his head while keeping his eyes clothes until he stuffed it into his back pocket, then rapidly blinked his eyes until they could adjust to the light. After a few winces and a little struggling, he managed to keep them open for a normal length of time. His vision was excessively blurry at first, but soon came into focus allowing him to look around with his heterochromic yellow and purple irises. The room was well laid out, it looked good even. Nero however, did not look so great. The desert gear was a bit much. Although, suddenly JeY felt much more vulnerable too, he had been so used to his aura vision that he forgot about the secondary defenses he often used along with his weaker, more distracting human eyes. Some focus, and he detected zero threats in the area and kept his aura projected to make sure it stays that way. He let out a slight sigh.
"The one thing I miss about natural vision is the beauty of taking in sights." JeY said, walking over to the window and looking out upon the city. Everything looked so... nice. He hasn't actually seen with his natural vision in a few days, having almost forgot what everything dislike. Since he didn't need functional vision, being more appropriate for combat and danger, he felt it was okay to shed a little weakness every once in a while. However, the boy would fine that even with the option to look into the man's eyes, all he would receive is a blank stare. His face was just as monotone as his voice, his eyes perfectly stoic in tune with the rest of his lack of expression. It could be considered creepy, but it all depended on who was doing the considering.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 23, 2014 19:00:29 GMT -5
At this point, Nero truly wasn't surprised JeY didn't eat or sleep. He was a friend of Cheri's after all, so Nero already expected this guy to be a off in some way or form, which was already apparent when he had first met the guy, as he wore a blindfold over his eyes. Nero would be half tempted to just hold up his hand and tell the guy he understood, but fortunately, the man left it at just that. Thank God, it was probably the only time Nero would gain a little respect for JeY, but nothing too significant. He seemed pretty much aware that Nero had zero interest in him and didn't care about Nero either. Perhaps JeY wouldn't make this trip as terrible as the boy intially thought, but his mere presence was still enough to bother him. It wasn't anything super personal to JeY himself (albeit, maybe a tad personal) but Nero really just hated the idea of some guy just waiting for him to be in danger on the side. Nero had been able to get himself out of every situation he had gotten himself into, why would anything that happens here be any different? Even though JeY said that they wouldn't have to see each other until Nero wanted to leave Agrabah, he knew that was bullshit. Sure, JeY had no facial expression or body language for the boy to read, but the whole idea of JeY just being a transport, it was kind of stupid.
In fact, Nero would feel a little insulted that JeY would think that he was that gullible. Even if Nero wouldn't see JeY during his expedition, the boy knew he'd be there. After all, JeY had pulled a similar move back at Cheri's house, appearing behind the boy without as much of a sound. What was stopping him from trailing Nero during this job? The answer was absolutely nothing. With that in mind, would there really be any point of even telling the jackass to stay behind on the job? He'd just be there any way, albeit in a more creepy way. Speaking of creepy, while Nero was over-thinking like he always did, JeY would remove blindfold, revealing his eerie-ass eyes. Again, not much of a surprise to Nero, he was just waiting for this guy to pull his face off, revealing the fact that he had been an elephant-man this entire time. Of course, part of that could be that Nero just wanted to complete that row on his bingo chart from before, but that wasn't important at this moment. Though the man would seem soul search-y with the next thing that would come out of his mouth. Nero had only heard this guy say a few things, but man did everything JeY say just seem so... dry. He understood JeY was pretty much emotionless and didn't want to be here, but Nero was at least one of those things and he had been giving this guy some personality. Then again, Nero supposed it didn't really matter, as he doubted that he and this JeY fellow would ever really work together after this meeting.
"Yeah yeah, I get it. You sneezed with your eyes open one day and lost your natural eyes, I honestly couldn't give less of a crap. Really man, I can't see how the hell you can be friend's with Cheri, you seem like the kind of guy that'd have more fun keeping a grandmother some company." Nero wouldn't have to much of a negative tone behind this insult, more of a casual tone. Honestly, this wasn't event meant to be taken as harsh as it sounded, it more of just Nero thinking aloud for the last bit of it. Every second the boy would spend waiting in the room with JeY would feel like an eternity. Franco never had Nero wait more than a few minutes at the most for information before, so what was the deal this time? Especially considering the fact that this gem he was looking for was so invaluable. Sure, it'd catch a decent price, but no where near the amount his mysterious client was willing to pay him for it. Any other treasure hunter would probably take that fact as a bad omen, but not Nero. Munny was munny, and if this person wanted to over-pay for such a crappy amulet gem, it was no skin off Nero's bones. Which was a good thing, as Cheri implied she'd be pissed if Nero came back missing any skin at all.
After a few more seconds of waiting, a frantic knock at the door would be hear. "Oh, thank freaking lord." jumping off the bed and to his feet, Nero would open the door, being greeted with a very worried looking Franco. Unfortunately, due to the man's rather large size, Nero would have to wait a few seconds for the man to catch his breathe. From what Nero could tell, it appeared like he had just ran up the winding staircase, making the boy wonder why the hell they'd even put his room upstairs. Franco obviously hated exercise, so this just seemed like a design flaw in Nero's eyes, but that wasn't really important at the moment. After catching his breathe, the short and round man would begin to speak. "The gem you've come here for, it's been... ah geez, how do I put this..."
"Out with it, Franco!"
"A group of looters took it from the cave of wonders earlier." Before Nero could spew out a curse, the fat man would hold up his arms in a gesture to slilence the boy. "They haven't sold it off yet. According to Franco Jr., They had come into the bazaar earlier, asking to sell for a very high price. Being that the boy is my own, he tried to haggle to them down to a lower price, resulting in him losing the sale.." The man would looked a bit worried, not sure how the boy would take this news. Letting out an annoyed grunt, Nero would shake his head. "Goddammit, I should of known it was Junior. Damn kid's nose is bigger than his brain!" Despite the insult being towards his own son, Franco would chuckle a little and place a hand on the aggravated teens shoulder. "Do not worry my friend, I'm not going to let down my best and most loyal customer." inviting himself in, Franco would lead the boy to the small bedside table, laying down a map of the desert. "From what I've found, these bastards have been looting all kinds of jewels and treasures, not just from the cave of wonders, but from other treasure hunters as well. In fact, they were planning a mugging on you in just a few days." Placing a hand on his chin, Nero would examine the map, noticing a red circle looking to be just a bit of a hike away from the cave of wonders. "Your scouts found their location I take it?" Giving the boy a hearty laugh, Franco would point his meaty finger to Nero's head. "Smart boy! I like that. Yes, as you've most likely guessed, they've been hurting my business too, so I tracked them down a few days ago. I already know you'll be accepting this, so as you say, "let's just cut the crap."
Moments like these were the reason Nero ever even did business with this man, as he always told the boy exactly what he wanted to hear. After explaining that Nero would be traveling there in the evening with a ride that Franco would arrange, the two men would shake hands before Franco would leave JeY and Nero alone once more. Looking over at JeY, Nero would rest his hands on his hips and stand next to him. "So, are you just going to admit you're coming and just take the transportation with me or are you just gonna follow me thinking I don't know you're there?" Nero wouldn't care which answer he'd get from JeY, but he'd definitely earn a little more respect if the man would just be honest with. Sure, Nero would be annoyed that he was there on the trip with him, but he'd be even more annoyed if the man was trying to be sneaky about it.
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Post by JeY k on May 23, 2014 20:35:01 GMT -5
This kid... he was something else. JeY wasn't fond of dealing with people he would have to tolerate more than anything else, and nothing binding the chaotic man to the treasure seeker besides a mutual friend whom he owed a few favors to, being here was becoming just as much of a drag for him as it was for the boy. Still, he was curious enough that he didn't leave right away to see what made this boy tick in such a fashion that Cherika was so fascinated. That sarcastic bite in his speech was certainly a good place to start looking, the girl did like more powerful men. Nero wasn't a weakling, if anything.
"...My eyes work fine, mind you, they're just inferior. I see better on a functional level when they're closed. As for the girl, I'd ask the same question, you're hardly a topic of interest yourself. As for my story, I owe her a few favors. Nothing more, nothing less." It wasn't a total lie, but technically he was funding her research on a grand scale, but that's not why he owes her any favors. It's quite a long story, involving JeY figuring out the hard way that he couldn't actually kill the girl. In fact, in tandem with the man's own healing energy, the girl managed to regenerate her entire left arm in an unbelievably short amount of time. Still, this boy had no powers, magic, or gifts, so what was his secret? It's too bad JeY couldn't just read minds.
Not a moment too soon however, Nero's source came in with some urgent news. Talk of bandits and a camp was intriguing enough, JeY even peeked at the map over his shoulder briefly to get a general idea, then closed his eyes and imagined the scene. He'd definitely be able to teleport there instantly. He stayed out of the discussion however, this was the boy's job and JeY already said he was going to make this as easy for the boy as possible. Granted, the chaotic man was still a little curious (and obligated to ensure Nero's survival), so he'd probably be around but not interfering unless he had to.
When Franco left, of course the boy wanted to call him out on his stalker mission, trying to make him feel bad for having it for whatever reason. "Blame your girlfriend for my involvement at all. Still, a chain of events like this implies a shift in balance. There is darkness growing restless here, so while you go off and practice ballet with bandits or whatever, I'll be hunting a hoard of Heartless that shall inevitably spawn. Knowing this area, it'll be another sand worm." Although, all said and done, that didn't directly answer the boy's question. Perhaps he should be a bit more clear.
"If anything, I'll just meet you at the camp. I have no intention of following you, I'll just be there with a bowl of popcorn for the big event, whenever it starts." Of course, how would he know when it started without being given a specific time or without following Nero? Well, that was quite simple; with his ability to perceive auras, he'll just be instantly alerted to Nero either moving really fast all of a sudden or being a much greater distance than normal away from town. He wouldn't have to tell Nero all of that, since he's seemed to accept whatever JeY's capable of at this point, why would the boy question this aspect now, especially concerning everything else he's mentioned?
"Anyway, it sounds like you got a job to do, and I've had all the hanging out I can tolerate, since you're so inclined to be bitter for no reason." JeY reached into his back pocket and slipped his blindfold on over his face again. There wasn't any Heartless brooding yet, but it was only a matter of time before it arrived. A new spring of bandits stealing more than just neutral treasure was a big deal, and a place with such darkness attached to it already, the scale tips rather easily. "Anything you need before I'm off? It's not every day someone hires a has-been overlord to play taxi for you." JeY figured he would ask. After all, he had no ill-intentions regarding the boy, there was no reason to hold back any possible favors.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 24, 2014 18:58:38 GMT -5
Well, maybe this guy wasn't such a stiff after all. Giving Nero a bit of a attitude back the teen would shake his head and laugh. While he couldn't react to the man's come backs at the time being, as he had to answer to Franco, he wouldn't just ignore them. JeY saying he was hardly interesting himself was one that would almost make the teen bust a gut. Seriously? Did this guy really think Nero was even trying to interesting for him? He wouldn't waste his breath. If JeY wanted to believe he was just an average-Joe, he wouldn't stop him. Hell, there wasn't anything Nero could do to even show JeY what he could do if he wanted to, as the best time for someone to see what the boy was really capable of was in combat. Really, the only thing Nero could think of was giving this guy a right hook in the jaw to shut him up, but that wouldn't solve anything, perhaps even getting the boy's ass kicked. Nero may have not liked JeY the most, but he wouldn't do anything to physically harm the man. After all, being forced to work with him did unfortunately make JeY his partner for this job, meaning Nero would have his back if he needed it, though that didn't seem likely with this man's abilities.
It was situations like these where the boy hated his loyalty to anyone he had to label a partner, and despite his general dislike for most people, Nero had a certain code he had to abide to. Of course, none of this would even leave the boy's head, meaning JeY would probably see the kid as the same bitter stubborn asshole he had been the entire trip thus far, and Nero was just fine with that. It wasn't until JeY's next comment that Nero would feel the urge to speak up to the man. Sure, he had called the stranger out on the fact that he knew he'd be there anyway, but that's not what bugged him. Girlfriend? Is that what Cheri had been telling people? Nero cocky-smirk would fall to a scowl in an instant. "Whoa, hey now, back it up for a second. Girlfriend is a bit of a generous title, don't you think? Anyway, mock what I'm doing all you want, I really don't care. I'm just a bit curious as to what makes what you're doing so much better in your eyes. Go have fun fighting the shadow bugs in the sand, I'll be trying to make a damn living. Actually, I may have a sand-bucket for you in my bag if you want, that way you can keep yourself occupied and out of the way." Nero really didn't care about the other comment's the man had made, even when he referred to Nero taking on the looters as practicing ballet, he was really just irked about the girlfriend comment. Cheri and him may have liked each other (well, loved, the way she saw it) but they hadn't made anything official, had they? Still Nero wouldn't have time to worry about this, he'd have to get himself ready for the trip to the desert he had ahead of him.
Though before he would, JeY would have to talk down to the boy one last time, making Nero smirk once more. Nero didn't downright dislike this guy, but his sense of superiority would bug the crap out of the teen. He obviously had some powers, big whoop, in Nero's eyes, that only made the man less impressive. He had always hated magic user just for that, he always felt like they had been spoon fed the easy way out of everything. Even Cheri, someone the boy had grown a bit of a liking for was guilty of this, as she could be littered with bullets and be able to walk it off in a matter of minutes, with a smile no-less. Before the man would really be leaving the teen alone this time, he'd ask if the boy had any favor he could do for him, making Nero only more impressed with how much of an arrogant ass this guy was. Though, that was kind of like the pot calling the kettle black in Nero's case. In fact, perhaps the reason the two of them had so much trouble getting along was due to the similarities they had, but Nero wasn't about to let this guy walking away without one last insult. Placing his hand on his chin. Nero would appear to be thinking of something he truly wanted. "Hmmmm... You know, if you could just pull your head out of your ass and brush the crap off your ears, I think that'd be plenty." The boy would appear to be done, but then would snap his fingers as if he remembered something. "Oh, wait, I got it! Just make sure the door hits you on the way out, and I think we're good." Seeing as the man could dish it out as well as he could take it, Nero wouldn't be surprised to see this man brush off these insults like nothing.
After about an hour of waiting, Franco would let the boy know his ride was ready, making Nero more than eager to get this over with. He may not have wanted to return to Cheri when he had first left for Agrabah, but after his time with JeY, the girl's company was only looking more and more appealing. As for his ride, it was nothing spectacular, just a simple camel with a guide to lead him to the camp. After all, Franco wouldn't want to send the boy in with too big of a group, as Nero worked better when working on his own. Leaving Koji behind in the hotel room and saddling up his camel, Nero would follow his escort (that wasn't JeY) towards the bandits camp. Seeing as a camel wasn't the fastest method of traveling, Nero would be riding the animal for a few hours, reaching the bandits camp at night, hoping the dark would help his stealth. Jumping off the camel and patting it on it's side, Nero would watch as the guide would start his journey back to the small town, leaving him alone, Well almost alone, as he knew JeY would be there, waiting for the boy to be on the verge of death. Crouching down and pulling out a pair of binoculars out of his satchel, Nero would investigate the camp. All in all, it was pretty typical, a big tent in the center, most likely being the leaders and plenty of other smaller tents spread out throughout the camp. Truthfully, Nero was a bit surprised when seeing just how plentiful this group of looters was, but nothing would compare to the surprise he saw next. Seeing a pretty good sized group of looters around a person, Nero would try to see what was going on, but would hear it sooner than he could see it. With his radio making static sounds behind him, Nero would frantically clip it off of his belt and turn down the volume.
"Who's on the other end of this thing?!" Nero would hear on of the looters ask, causing the boy to have a super confused look on his face. There was no way this guy the looters were interrogating simply guess his frequency number for his radio, the only people who could possibly know would either be Cheri, who it was obviously not, or... it couldn't be. The boy would drop his usual smug demeanor and replace it with a serious and determined one. Nero wasn't quite sure if he would want it to be the person he was thinking it could be, but he would clinch the radio in one hand, holding it up to his ear and look through the binoculars with the other, not caring enough to watch his back or sides. Listening and watching more intently, Nero would focus his sight on the looter talking to this prisoner, dropping his jaw when he heard the prisoner talk back. "For the last goddamn time, There's no one on the other end, and if you even think about touching me again, I swear I'm gonna make you choke on your own tee-." With Nero seeing the bandit's motion, it became apparent that he had kicked the man talking in the face, cutting the man off. Nero normally wouldn't give a damn about things like this, but that voice... There wasn't a doubt in his mind any more. It was Trojia. There was no way it couldn't be the boy's mentor and partner, as Nero could never not recognize the gruff voice or attitude behind it. Of course, the questions of how the old man got himself into this and what he was even doing in Agrabah would fill the boy's mind, but it really didn't matter to him. In fact , the boy would have to restrain himself as soon as he was able to confirm it was Trojia, as he was ready to go in like a maniac to save his father-figure. Slowly lowering his rifle while his hands would shake, Nero would be angry beyond belief, but knew that he couldn't just try to out-gun these guys, not any more at least. His original job may have been to simply take these guys out and grab the gem they had nabbed, but Nero was done with that, seeing rescuing his partner as his true mission now. Sure, if he could do both, he would, but there was bo way in hell the teen was going to give a stupid treasure priority over Trojia.
Though, this would raise a bit of a problem, how exactly was he supposed to do that now? The looters would most likely shoot the old man as soon as Nero was spotted or attacked, as they already seemed to believe he had help on the way due to his radio. To be fair, they weren't exactly wrong about that, but Trojia was being completely honest when he said there was no one on the other end. God knows how long he tried to reach Nero on the thing, the old man had probably assumed Nero had broke his or was dead, so Trojia didn't even know he was lying. After they had beaten Trojia a bit more, Nero would see them drag the man away to a tent in the far back of the camp, meaning he was as far away as possible from the boy. Great, not only would Nero have to sneak past all of these bastards, but now it seemed like it was a sneaking marathon. Brainstorming some ideas, Nero would think back to what JeY had told him in the hotel room. Nero didn't listen to the man word for word, good God, who would have the time for that? But, he did remember the man saying something about the Heartless having a like for the area nearby this camp. Those little shadow bugs could be the perfect way for the teen to sneak past the looters, as he was sure that they couldn't possible take out a those things with too much ease. These guys weren't exactly very skilled based on Franco's information, but even the information was starting to look a little bit off. If these looters truly weren't that skilled, how the hell did they capture Trojia? The old man had taught the boy just about every thing he knew and was a veteran in this kind of work, how'd these idiots get a hold of him? Nero couldn't quite put his finger on it, but everything about this wasn't adding up.
He couldn't focus too much on the fishiness of the whole ordeal though, he had an even tougher choice to make. Seeing as how the Heartless would be a perfect way in, he'd most likely need the assistance of his tour-guide to lead them to the camp, but that would mean actually working with the creepy-eyed man. That wasn't something Nero would ever want to do, especially after telling the man off earlier, but it wasn't JeY declining he was worried about. He knew the man would most likely say yes, Cheri had sent him along with Nero just to assist him after all, so he had nothing better to do than help really. It was more along the lines of Nero sucking up his pride and asking the man to assist him, but that was much easier said than done. Nero didn't even know where to find JeY, he just knew the smug bastard was probably watching the boy. Looking back down towards the tent they were holding his mentor in, Nero wouldn't care any more. JeY could think little of him for goinf back on his word all he wanted to, but this was Trojia. Nero would do anything for the old man and he knew Trojia would do the same for him, even working with JeY. Upon making his decision, Nero would scan the area looking for his blind-folded associate. If JeY would spot Nero, he'd see the teen would be flickering a flashlight on and off, trying to signal him. If not, Nero would probably just wing it, as he felt like he didn't have much time to waste waiting. These bandits didn't seem like they'd want to keep Trojia around for much longer, especially considering how rough with him when Nero was watching.
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Post by JeY k on May 25, 2014 0:51:01 GMT -5
Oh goody, JeY expected a punk like this to be immune to any baseless dramatized statements, but the whole 'girlfriend' remark really hit the jackpot. If JeY could feel emotion, he would certainly smile though his expression remained as blank and dormant as ever. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, I was exaggerating. Who cares if you've fucked her." Of course, he shouldn't really know that. Cherika didn't even state it directly to him, she just heavily implied it, though he knew exactly what she meant. Still at the bottom line, JeY just couldn't care less. He was just getting a rise out of the boy.
And then there was the door comments. Well, the joke was on him really. "Like I need to use the door." And then he just vanished. No sound, no particles, no special effects. Poof, he was standing there and then faded out of existence at a rapid rate. He teleported out of there, at first to the roof of this building to get a better position to scan for any apparent disturbances, but didn't immediately find anything worth checking out yet. Well, it seemed there would be a lot of spare time to kill then before anything interesting happening.
JeY would jump from his position to land back on the street level, catching the eye of a pedestrian who felt it probably better to mind his own business and kept moving along. JeY walked out, around, and made his way through the winding back streets until he would encounter the main bazaar and see what was for sale. He would have to take his blindfold off again though, this time it taking far less time to adjust however. Browsing today's wares, he wouldn't be foreign to the idea of buying a trinket or two, or just looking. He liked these shops actually, since this is where he picks up a lot of interesting things. There probably hasn't been a time JeY has been to Agrabah and not browsed the goods in the bazaar at least once.
Regardless, the chaotic man would do whatever it took to waste enough time until he felt what he's been looking for this whole time; Nero's aura on the move. Perfect. Time for the fun to begin. He had a mission planned out on his own already, he didn't really have any connections but he drew a roadmap in his head into how he could obtain information or who to get that information from. He would be able to find it one way or another, but he had some things to take care of before he watched the boy to simply observe what he was capable of. He had his own reasons for digging up information, it was just interesting that they both crossed paths and coincidentally are dealing with the same menace.
However, when he did get results, there was definitely something JeY had to tell the boy. Not out of respect or worry, but as a human being he was sent to oversee. JeY really didn't want to do anything, but this would be worth it. As much as Nero ended up not wanting the man's help, JeY didn't want to deal with the boy's whining if he were to give life-saving advice and deal with any unnecessary backlash about not needing to be taken care of or something like that. there would be no way around it, but JeY would just decide to bite the bullet for the sake of a somewhat happy ending. Hopefully.
It was true that JeY was waiting at the camp, but not in a sense that Nero would be able to spot him or signal him at all really, with the timing that happened to be laid down, he would appear behind the boy a ways when he pulled out his flashlight. He began flashing it, to which JeY observed for a little bit to try to examine what he was doing, but figured it would just be easiest to ignore it and move on. This was urgent news after all. "Ehem." JeY cleared his throat to garnish the boy's attention. He didn't meant to scare him, but there was no way to suddenly teleport near someone without surprising them at least a little bit without any pre-arranged contact.
"No idea what you're doing there, but I have something important to tell you." Now, normally his voice was monotone and lacking much expression at all, but it usually just sounded bland. Now, his monotone had a strange sense of tightness and urgency, like he was actually concerned about something but trying to remain neutral about it rather than just being an expressionless freak as usual. Perhaps this slight adjustment would instill a sense of real importance to this message. "I've gone and done some of my own research for personal objectives, but I've learned that you're about to stumble into a huge trap. They don't know who you are or that you're coming, but they're prepared for something much bigger than what they are. Should you have stumbled in there, you may not have come out entirely alive, and that's not because I don't think you can't handle a few measly bandits." He said, taking a few steps forward to be even with the boy at his cover. His blindfold was still on.
"There is something suspicious about all of this, and to verify my conclusion, I sense a presence amidst the camp that is much stronger than a few ordinary bandits. I don't know your precise business here, but if it does indeed reside in here, I have good news. My own ordeals point to here as well, so think of this as strictly a coincidence, but what I'm about to do will serve as a hefty distraction. You're free to act as you see fit to do what you need, but don't misinterpret this as a favor or generosity or intended assistance in any way. Just... a coincidence." Well, the first question on anyone's mind would probably be 'well what are you going to do?' however JeY didn't feel the need to explain himself.
Nor would he allow Nero to ask. "Whatever sources you've had were not completely accurate, but I won't say that anything left out was intentional. I'll spare you the details of my own conflict since you're clearly not interested, but you can thank me for saving your skin later. Just... don't get close until you're sure you won't be seen." And with that, he was off. He just... walked straight toward the camp, no camouflage, no stealth functions activating, or anything. He was bound to be spotted at any moment, and those guards had lethal firearms. They probably weren't friendly to random strangers either. After about fifty steps, the verdict was in: kill on sight.
The small guard force yelled about taking another step and they would kill him, but JeY wouldn't listen. They raised their guns, took aim, and... fired at the man, who did absolutely nothing but continue to walk forward at an even pace. He didn't stagger from the bullets, in fact, they seemed to pass right through them. They must've missed somehow, they figured, and decided to unload rather than be skillful about it. There was no mistake, JeY was the equivalent of a ghost, the dust from bullets hitting the sand behind him whipped up a nice cloud. Whatever approached the camp wasn't natural.
An alert was sounded, every able body took up arms against the stranger and open fired - only to bear zero results. By the time JeY reached the center of camp and raised his arm to indicate that they stop shooting, the bandits knew something was up. One higher-ranking scumbag drew a blade and came at the chaotic man directly, only to find himself slashing the equivalent of air. He looked spooked, and backed off. After a minute or so of jeers and yells, they realized JeY had been signaling them to shut the heck up this entire time. Eventually the entire camp drew silent. JeY lowered his hand. "Good evening. I am a specially designed automatic hologram, designed to send you this very specific message."
Some dramatic pause, everyone whispering about the wondrous tech behind this 'hologram', and a few stares in disbelief, and then the message would come. "Eat shit!" JeY called at the top of his lungs. He phased back into time-space, teleported to the bandit directly in front of him and giving him a powered-up kick, sending him flying back so hard he had enough momentum to travel an extra ten feet after bowling over the three dudes behind him along the way. The bandits raised their firearms but JeY vanished and reappeared again to the right, with a slim but long-length sword comprised entirely of light energy, giving the one bandit a couple deep but non-fatal slashes. Teleporting again to the right, he uppercutted the bandit into the air and jumped, with both odachi blades in hand now and crossed slashed, the momentum sending the guy crashing to the ground in a non-fatal but heavily bleeding mess.
With his intense speed and well-timed blows with all of his fists, feet and blades, he was making quick work of the bandits one at a time. Using no extra powers, this tactic would be better for a diversion, since he could probably generate enough energy to take this whole camp out in a single blow, maybe two, but then Nero couldn't slip in, get what he wanted and slide back out. By darting around and giving it to these punks one at a time, the process was slow and hefty enough to create a very effective diversion. It would be impossible to hit him with a bullet due to being too fast, plus the generally disorganized cluster of bandits was actually smart enough to try and avoid friendly fire. They shot toward the man's legs if anything, but could never quite land a hit.
His plan was two-fold. One, he wanted to draw out the strong presence he detected, or at least sense it fleeing and being able to track it to its true headquarters, as this base of operations was clearly too under par to be a main headquarters of sorts, even temporarily. Second, he wanted to learn what was going on here. By leaving the grunts alive, someone ought to know something around here, even if they only overheard certain rumors. Every single entity was valuable in this situation, since it was impossible to tell who knew what until you had undivided attention. Of course, after a little while of pummeling the poor band of thieves, he'd eventually wear through their ranks and manage to subdue every single one. Unless of course, something bigger happened sooner. Still, they would be no match, and without interference soon there was going to be quite a mess to clean up here.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 25, 2014 18:53:55 GMT -5
Perfect. The teen was pretty much more than willing to allow JeY to feel smug at his admission of needing help, but fate would seem to be on the boy's side for once. JeY seemed to have his own reason for attacking the camp, so Nero wouldn't even need to to ask the man for anything. Though, before going off to be a distraction, JeY would share some very valuable information with the teen. Now, given Nero's rude treatment of the man, Nero imagined JeY wouldn't even want to tell him anything, despite being hired by Cheri to watch over him, so he had a little bit of appreciation when it came to the warning. As for the realization that Franco had misinformed the, Nero knew it wasn't on purpose. Had Franco more time, he would have probably been able to really get some dirt on the seemingly normal group of bandits, but Nero had made Franco rush with his information. Granted, Nero would have had more time to wait for information if he hadn't fooled around with Cheri for an extra day, but if he had to chose between getting shot at by these guys and earning Cheri's reward, it'd be a pretty easy choice for the boy. Hell, Nero wouldn't even get mad at JeY's mention of him saving Nero's skin, he was just content with the fact that he'd have a way in to save his good friend and mentor. After warning Nero to not go until he'd be spotted, Nero would watch as the man would go ahead and walk towards the bandits. Nero was certain that this was some sort of stupid trick from the man, as JeY seemed far too smart to just walk up and get himself littered with bullets, as much as it would pain Nero to admit. Still, Nero wouldn't remain focused on JeY too long, he had an old man to rescue after all. When it looked okay to go, Nero would sprint towards the camp, sliding behind a large crate of supplies for cover.
Truthfully, Nero really shouldn't have even headed for the cover, but he was glad he did. Peaking out a bit, Nero would notice a straggler who was not yet shooting at JeY looking hesitant. Apparently, this one was smart enough to notice the man was too much of a match for him and his bandit buddies. Normally, Nero would respect this kind of guy, one who can see that there would be no use charging into a battle he couldn't win, but upon examining this looter closer, the boy would lose all respect for him. A shiny silver metal in his hand would look awfully familiar to the teen, Nero could instantly recognize the object to be Trojia's trusty revolver, resulting in Nero rushing out of his cover and straight into the scumbag. The poor bandit would attempt to shout out in warning, but the shout would be muffled be the boy's fist hitting the man in his jaw. Of course, Nero would have to ensure this man didn't give away his position. Following the first punch, Nero would kick the man between the legs, causing the bandit to hunch over in pain. Using the man's hunched-over state to his advantage, Nero would place both of his hands behind the unfortunate bandit's head, pulling it it downwards towards his knee as he forced his knee upwards. Really, he probably was a bit too rough with this guy, but most of that would most likely be due to the man's foolish idea to use Trojia's gun. With the painful crack of the man's nose and jaw echoing through Nero's ears, he'd watch as the man would fall over on his side, out cold. "Yeah, that's what happens when you take things that don't belong to you, you damn greedy piggy!" Bending over and snatching the shiny revolver from the knocked-out bandits hands, Nero would examine the gun, brushing it off a bit. "Now I just gotta find the old man this came with. Hang in there Troy, I'm almost there."
Once again talking and joking to himself, Nero would slip the revolver into the back of his pants, taking a note from a certain aulburn-haired girl. Crouching down and continuing his tour through the camp, Nero would be surprised just how well JeY's diversion worked. When scouting out the area, Nero could see multiple areas where these looters filled tents, but apparently they were all dumb enough to keep trying to shoot one guy who seemed to be immune to there bullets. Making sure not to be seen by any of the men firing (and failing) at JeY, Nero was able to see the tent they had his mentor in, getting ready to take out whoever was watching over the old man. Clipping his rifle to a sling in his satchel, the boy would throw it over his back and pull out his newly-obtained revolver. Nero knew he had no choice but to use his sling, as he had left Koji back in the city, but he hated using it. It just added more weight to the boy, and when a person had to do the kind of maneuvers Nero had to, anything that added extra weight was just a pain in the ass. It really made him regret leaving his dog in the city, but Koji really hated the desert, so Nero wouldn't make his best buddy suffer. It was really odd, he seemed to treat a dog better than he treated JeY, but Nero could say that about a lot of people. Slowly walking towards the tent in the far back of the camp, Nero would take a deep breathe before yanking the tarp that covered the tent open, finding himself to be grabbed and thrown to the ground.
Landing hard on his back, Nero would look up, aiming his revolver straight up at his attackers forehead, but then slowly dropping his aim. "Nero? The hell are you doing here, kid? I was about to rip out your throat!" Wheezing a bit as his mentor helped him up, Nero would pat the man on his shoulder. "Yeah, great to see you too, asshole." Letting out a chuckle, Trojia would pull the teen in for a hug. Really, Nero was the last thing he would of expected to see, but he was sure glad to see the kid alright. Trojia had been captured by these guys for a little over a week, but with all of the bandit's focusing on JeY, it was the perfect time for the man to escape, as he normally had two armed men watching him, but one had left to deal with JeY. The other.... Well, Nero could see the nice mess that used to be a bandit in the back corner of the tent. Though, the nice reunion between the the two would be interrupted by Nero himself, pushing the old man off of him. "Jesus Troy, you stink! God, you smell like cigarettes dipped in ass-juice! Ugh." Again, Trojia's only reaction to the boy's rude comment would be to laugh. Nero's attitude may have bugged the crap out of him at times back in their world, but seeing his young partner still be the same smart-ass he was back then, it was comforting to the old man. "If you haven't noticed kiddo, there's ot exactly an a plethora of showers in this damn camp. Bastards have kept me here for a bit over a week, a week full of crappy food, crappy work and beatings, but screw that right now kid... I'm honestly surprised to see you alive. These guy's have been going through hell to find you, Goddamn idiots thought I was you when they nabbed me." Despite normally being calm and cool, Nero's partner seemed a bit more... frantic this time around. He had been spewing out a lot in the extremely short time they had met up, but the two really needed to find a safer place to discuss all of this. "What?! They were looking for me and got you?! Do I really look that freaking old?! I mean- ow!"
Slapping the teen in the back of his head, Trojia would push the teen towards the back of the tent, leading him to the back exit of it. "You got a couple of free insults in, quit while your ahead, kid. Now, you have a plan on how we're getting out of here?" Rubbing the back of his head, Nero would look towards Trojia and give the man a smile. [color=teal"No, I don't!"[/color] Nero would say sounding way too confident. Pushing open the back tarp of the tent, Nero would continue. "Come on, you know me, I never plan in advana- ah crap!" As soon as Nero would take his first step out of the door, he'd feel his right leg getting pulled up into the air, interrupting his thought. It seemed the bandits had a plan just in case Trojia had been able to take out the two guards watching over, which was having him step on a rope that would leave the man hanging in the air. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't factored in Nero's luck into the equation, leaving Nero dangling in the air by his right leg while his mentor would watch him get lifted into the air, laughing a tad. During the rapid motion of triggering the trap, Nero's rifle would fall off of it's sling, landing on the ground next to Trojia. "This crap still happening to you, kid? Don't you ever get tired of this bit?" Crossing his arms and looking aggravated at the man, Nero would simply rock back and forth gently, his eyes locked on his smug mentor. "You think I do this crap on purpose? It's some voodoo curse or something, it's the only explanation. Anyway, just get me down, the blood's not rushing to my head any slower. Oh, by the way, here!" Tossing Trojia his revolver, the teen would smile at the man as he continued to sway. "Found this in some guy's hand who got his world wrecked, thought it'd look better in your hand." Catch the revolver with one hand, Trojia would spin the gun and slide it into his holster. The men had left all his other gear in the tent he was being held in, but one of them had taken a liking to his gun, taking it for himself.
"That's my boy, hang tight kiddo, I'll have you down in a second. Uh, no pun-intended." Once again crossing his arms, Nero would scowl at his mentor. Puns were his thing, he'd be damned before he'd let this old punk take that from him. Trojia had his drinking and smoking, he didn't need to be cracking puns left and right, that's what he had Nero for. Though, the man wouldn't have as easy as a time as he may have thought, as he hadn't been able to sharpen his knife's blade in a over a week and this rope wasn't a cheap one. As he would continue to try and cut through the stubborn rope, Nero would wait patiently, but he would start to feel a bit light-headed. So light headed in fact, that it'd seem some shadows would be moving towards him and Trojia. Honestly, Nero would say they kind of looked like Heartless if he knew better.... Oh, crap. "Troy, get me down, like, now! I mean now-now!"
"Working on it kid, give me some time here!"
"Okay, you got about now-seconds left, the freaking shadow bugs are coming." Looking over his shoulder, Trojia would confirm the boy's theory and mutter a curse under his breath. "Here kid, hold them off for now, I'll get you down in a jiffy" Trojia would toss up the boy's rifle as he spoke, leaving Nero with the definite time-frame of 'a jiffy.' A jiffy? Was he serious?! There was no way Nero and Trojia could die here, they had finally found each other! Pissed off wasn't enough to cover Nero's rage at this point. He was ducking furious. Catching the gun and flipping it upside-down like he was, Nero would take aim at the shadow creatures. They weren't even anything too impressive, just Shadow heartless, but combined with Nero's light-headedness and the sheer quantity of them, it seemed a lot tougher than normal. Add in the fact that Nero couldn't get himself to stop swaying back and forth, it made aiming almost impossible. Still, Nero would manage to fire a few rounds into the small hoard of Heartless, keeping them at bay until his mentor was able to start cutting through the rope. "Alright kid, I just about got it!" Hearing Trojia say he was almost done was music to the boy's ears, he wouldn't even care about the Heartless waiting to attack the duo, as he knew Trojia would be able to handle them with ease while he let his light-headedness fade. Though, one thing did worry him. "Great, just make sure you lower me down gently!" With the snap of the rope filling Nero's ears, the teen would plummet to the ground head first, causing him to fall to his side and wither in pain.
"Daww, you dick! Gently, I said gently!" Unsheathing his machete, Trojia would begina to walk towards the Heartless that were charging towards Nero, ignoring his partner's insults. The old man would make quick work of the few stragglers Nero hadn't taken care of, swinging his blade straight into the center of one of the creature's heads and then kicking it off of the blade. For the next one, Trojia would wait until the Shadow jumped towards him, side-stepping the lunge and sticking his blade through the Heartless' chest, pinning it down. While in this position, he'd continue to stomp the creatures head in, turning around and facing the remaining two creature, leaving his blade where he had pinned the last one into the sand. Whipping out his knife in one hand and his revolver in the other. He wouldn't try anything too flashy, simply shooting a round into one of their heads and throwing his knife into the others head. Trojia wouldn't stand around to pat himself on the back though, from what he had seen of those creatures, there's always more where the last batch came from. Grabbing his knife out of the Heartless and retrieving his machete from the ground, Trojia would pull Nero up to his feet and start to lead the boy out of the camp. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he figured it'd be better than staying in the area he and Nero had just been firing guns at. As they were leaving, Nero would take notice of a few camels heading in the opposite direction of the camp, leading Nero to believe that the bandit's loot had left the camp. After all, after being attacked from somebody as strong as JeY, why wouldn't they move their treasure away? It was a move Nero should have seen coming.
Once the two were far enough away from the camp, Nero would crouch down and pull the old man down with him, handing him his canteen. Trojia would begin to gulp the water down insanely quick, as he was barely given any water with his captors. After his water binge, Trojia looked as if he was about to open his mouth, but Nero would hold up his hand. "Trust me Troy, I want to know all about what these bastards are doing looking for me and beating me to the treasure I was after, but I think our diversion will want to here what you have to say as well." Trojia would look a little unsure if what the boy meant, but would accept would he had said. Nero was a bit curious on how these guys were linked to both him and JeY however, as he had assumed him and the man had nothing in common. He was sure the man would have no problem taking out the bandit that Nero and Trojia hadn't even engaged with, so it was all a waiting game at this point.
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Post by JeY k on May 25, 2014 22:49:11 GMT -5
With how perceptive JeY could be, especially when he made sure his human eyes weren't a distraction, there was hardly anything that went completely unnoticed by the chaotic man. He was dealing with the bandit camp one unfortunate crook at a time in order to draw out the process. He exactly where every live body was and where it was going at all times, as he made sure no one was going to escape and whatever JeY had previously sensed before does decide to make a move, he would be right there waiting. Well, in the case, waiting being passing the time by taking out the entire crew.
Once he dedicated Nero taking off alongside another aura signature, it was time to blow this popsicle stand. Probably literally, too. Once the two were at an arguable safe distance, JeY warped to the center of the establishment and punched one arm out and rose it into the air while opening his fist, nothing initially occurring, though the ground began to rumble within a moment. Suddenly, a huge and very strong spiral of dark energy engulf the entire perimeter of the camp and worked its way toward the center through expansion, as if a reverse-tornado-shaped prison if jet-black bars twice the thickness of an average guy's leg was sprung unto the camp. It raged violently for a few seconds before it burst into a sandstorm of dark grains, much like the sand they tread on, while it whipped around violently and reduced the visibility of the grounds to zero.
That raged on for less time, right before JeY extended both of his arms to the side with open palms and appeared to suck all the dark energy up in nearly an instant, then vanished while reappearing instantly in the air quite a distance above the camp and held his arm down. Large, concussive blasts of fluorescent pink Chaos energy rained upon the vicinity of the camp, tearing the entire settlement to shreds (or, whatever was left from the first two attacks). If one were looking with a keen eye however, a few blasts of energy strayed from the camp and shot far off from the distance. Whatever may have tried to escape may be severely hindered at that point, though one shot may or may not have 'missed'. With that in mind, JeY warped again just off from the duo, leaving his blindfold on. He hoped this person wasn't a stubborn smartass like Nero, but it takes one to understand one unfortunately.
"I see you've made out fine, Nero. If you want a transport to your room I wouldn't mind assisting your rescue mission, but I'm pretty sure the brains of the operation are nearby. I've disabled most their transportation and have a mental lock, they won't get very far, so I can simply catch them whenever. I was going to leave most of the grunts alive to see if someone would squeal, but if the ringleaders decided to make themselves obvious for the task, then so be it." He probably divulged more than he needed to, but he definitely wasn't stupid. There was a little more going on here than a search and rescue. After all, the boy was getting information on a certain gem earlier, not another human.
"Though, I'm willing to take a guess you also have business with them too. If that's the case, I won't stop you from coming along." He crossed his arms, but only to make himself more comfortable. He kind of ignored Nero's friend, but he wasn't anyone JeY recognized or could sense was anything beyond what Nero was capable of, so he didn't really have a reason to. He figured if the friend wanted to talk he would talk, but he would not be interested in introducing himself. If Nero should choose to divulge his information, he wouldn't really do much about that, but his statement would still be made if he refused to give his own introduction.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 26, 2014 0:27:48 GMT -5
After witnessing his associate destroy the camp, Nero would only shake his head and look annoyed. Really, this guy was always just trying too damn hard for Nero to ever give him any credit, this just proved Nero's case of what a prick JeY was. Add to that the man having a massive ego, it really seemed like he was to compensate for something. Something a little south for the winter in Nero's mind. Being the ever so annoying presence he was, JeY would appear like clock work, opening his mouth before Trojia could draw his gun. Having almost the exact same reaction as Nero did when meeting JeY, Trojia would roll his eyes as the man would go on and on. "I'm gone for a few months, then you try to replace me with this jackass?! Man kid, I must've taught you horribly wrong at some point." Nero wouldn't pay too much attention to the nagging old man behind him, instead he shoot JeY a glare. He was sick of this guy. As it seemed, JeY hadn't done Nero the favor he had asked him to in the hotel room, if anything, it seemed he stuck it farther up his own ass. Nero didn't need this and he sure as hell never asked for it, but he was okay with keeping his mouth shut (well, mostly shut) about it until this. This was where the boy would draw the line with this smug bastard. Let him come along?! This was his goddamn job, rescuing Trojia was his mission, but now JeY was acting as if Nero should have to beg to even come along after the people who made away with the treasure. He was about to let him have it, that is of course until Trojia would interrupt him. "Hey, this is your associate, right? 'Cause I think you really need to hear this, kid." Breaking out of his frustration, Nero would nod. "Yes, This is my associate, JeY. Hence the word 'ass' in his title. JeY, this is Trojia. He's none of your goddamn business.
Giving JeY a slight glance, Trojia would shake his head while he lit a cigar, Trojia would continue. "Look, I assumed you died with our world, but I still looked for you. In my travels, I end up in this hell hole and see this little object on the black market in town." Reaching into his pocket, Trojia would pull out a notebook looking identical to Nero's, then he would hand it to the boy. "Hey, I had thought I lost this thing! But what's that have to do with anything? Daw!" Flicking Nero in the head, Trojia would take another drag of his cigar. "Keep your damn mouth shut, I'm getting to that. Apparently, the guys that captured me also had an interest in your notebook. All those damn notes on various treasures, the flimsy thing was worth a pretty big sum of money. So, taking this as a sign you were still alive, I nab it, but then these guy's figure out I do. The shop keep had sold me out, and get this, the dumb-asses think I'm you and capture me. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a few hours, but once they realized I worked with you, well, they considered it the next best thing." Taking in the information, Nero would place a hand on his chin, trying to piece all of it together. So far, it all went in line with what Franco had told the teen earlier, that these guys were planning on mugging him in a few days, but what for if they already had Trojia? Luckily, the old man wasn't done yet. "They've been using me to gather damn near every one of the treasure you had information on, but they still needed you for some damn reason. I couldn't get anything out of the one I killed, it almost seemed like they didn't even know... Kid, I'm not sure what these guys are after, but it's not just the treasure. I got them enough to live off of for a good while..." The tone in Trojia's voice was one that the boy knew too well, knowing that the old man would suggest that they just get out of this and head somewhere else, but Nero couldn't just leave now.
Not only would it give JeY the satisfaction of seeing Nero run away with his tail between his legs, but what were those men planning? They seemed to use his notes for whatever it was, making Nero fear for the worst. If anything, the fact that they did use Trojia and Nero's notes for their own personal use, that made this his mess to clean up, and more importantly, it made this personal. He'd sooner off himself before he'd let these guys capture, beat and use his mentor, then procede to get away with all of his treasures, but he wouldn't force his partner to come. Touching his mentor's shoulder with a smile, Nero would look down towards the sand. "I know, "we should just get our asses outta here, kid." Well, you're probably right, but I can't. Theses are my notes, Troy, my treasures, I'm taking them back. Now, you don't have to come wit-." Standing up and popping his neck, Trojia would ruffle his proteges hair. "If you're going, I'm not gonna sit it out. Unfortunately, that's the obligation I have being your partner." Grabbing Trojia's hand, Nero would be pulled up to his feet. To be honest, Nero had forgotten what it was like to have a reliable partner. Sure, he had people like JeY who he would have to work with every now and then, but never what he considered a true partner. The only thing that really came close was Koji, but even then, Koji was kind of in a league of his own when it came to that. With his mind made up, Nero decided he'd join JeY in taking down these guys. Wait, what? He'd join JeY? No, screw that. JeY would be joining him and Trojia.
"Alright Pillsbury Glow-boy, you can come with us to take these guy down if you want. We won't stop you, just don't expect to earn a cut of the pay" Resting his hands on his hips, Nero would take a deep breathe before looking back once more at the blindfolded man. "What direction are you tracking them from? I saw a few of them leave, but it looked like they were heading towards the cave of wonders. It wouldn't make much sense for the bandits to head right back to where they had gotten the treasure from, would it?" Though he would sound a little disinterested, Nero was feeling ecstatic on the inside. The teen had always loved trying to figure out puzzles, which was what this whole thing was to him. Trojia, JeY, himself and everything else involved just seemed like puzzle pieces to him, he just had to put them in place.
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Post by JeY k on May 26, 2014 21:15:23 GMT -5
"We're not associates. He's simply slept with someone I owe favors to; luckily for all of us." As much as Nero hated being around this guy, man, JeY could certainly express that the feeling was mutual. He didn't like the idea of protecting someone that seemed to be not worth much in the grand scheme of things, as JeY usually keeps more powerful and interesting allies around. Cherika herself was hardly an ally, but should she complete their deal, the amount of gratitude he would have would be boundless. Unfortunately, there was a few up-front payments as well. This task being one of the worst so far.
It seemed nothing more about his presence was too required, they exchanged some information, and the suspicions he felt could only grow worse. JeY was after something both particularly valuable and exceptionally dangerous. Every minute the enemy had access to what brought JeY into this little quest is a minute they could unleash what JeY believed would surely be worldly destruction. He wouldn't want to quantify any of that with these two, they had no need to know, and unless Nero actually felt like asking what exactly has the uptight, annoying man following along (or so it seems) JeY wouldn't admit a single syllable pertaining to his goals here.
When Troija said that it wasn't just treasure they were after, JeY was tempted to roll his eyes and openly agree; that much should be plainly obvious by now. The chaotic man was definitely aware of the presence of Heartless, and if that wasn't enough indication, then he feared these two were actually brainless after all. While they wouldn't see his eye rolling per se JeY still kept silent. Perhaps this is where they cut their losses and want to go back, but knowing how stubborn the boy was, JeY wasn't confident enough to count his chickens before they hatched.
And there it was, they were in. Great. Fortunately for them, JeY never loses an ally on a journey if he can help it, but unfortunately for JeY himself he believed that he would have to do some serious babysitting. He certainly believed they would be more of a hindrance than a help, but that was their problem. Though, if it wasn't for the agreement he was bound to Nero by, he would just run ahead and take care of things before they even had a chance, but he didn't want to leave these two alone in the desert. He was certain nothing could go wrong if he went up ahead himself anyway, since he was certainly faster by a long shot, but it would mentally bother him. It seems he would have to keep them by his side.
But wait, what the hell was that kid implying here? JeY can be the one to help? Oh please. He could deal with whatever petty insults and nicknames the boy wanted to through around, but if there was one thing he didn't want to put up, it was the chain of command. The man slowly rose his arm and removed his blindfold and pocketed it, blinking a couple times before giving the boy a direct stare. His eyes seemed to glow just slightly, since they contained the unnatural energy that coursed through him, and made sure the boy could tell he was completely seriously.
"I remember mentioning before we even got here that I thought it was funny you believed you were the one to make the rules. Let me make this perfectly clear," he said, taking a short breath thus creating a rather tense pause for a moment. "I'm the one running things around here. It's adorable that you think you have so much on the line with these petty treasures, but you have no idea what's going on in the slightest, do you. I am not 'joining' you for jack shit, and if you want to get mixed up in this operation, that's your choice but without knowing the stakes, you play by my rules." JeY shifted his glance to Troija for a moment. "The same goes for both of you." His eyes darted back to the boys, giving him a rather soulless glare that burned with a hellish, unnatural sense of passion.
"You can give me all the childish nonsense you want, if that's what makes you feel better, but when it comes to a hierarchy here, you are nowhere near my level, nor will you be in your lifetime. If you can't accept or handle that, you might as well go back right now. I said that I'd stay out of your way as much as possible, but that was before I found out that your prey carried a vessel containing Gan'Kromorg's essence." It was pretty hefty, entirely douchey, and nothing short of egotistical to lay down the law in that fashion, but if this little urchin in JeY's eyes was going to listen, it was going to be while he was being bent backwards over his will. Not literally anyway; at least, not yet.
JeY let the air hang unpleasantly between them for a moment before he'd finish up this little pep talk. "Do I need to repeat anything?" he asked. Gosh, if he wasn't being enough of a jerk already, he goes and makes the most condescending statements possible. Still, he wasn't really looking for the boy to bow down and respect him, he wanted the boy to get mad. JeY couldn't imagine someone of Nero's nature getting more irked than being treated like an inferior spec of dirt. He wouldn't even entertain the legitimate question about the tracking yet, not until he had full cooperation from the peanut gallery.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 27, 2014 4:16:37 GMT -5
After JeY's onslaught of what he had thought to be the truth, Trojia would reach for his pistol, but would feel his partner grab the gun before him. Nero wouldn't draw the gun on JeY however, he wasn't an idiot. What JeY had said about the boy not being on his level, well, that was true in a sense. Matched up against each other, the odds of Nero ever beating JeY in any sort of combat weren't necessarily on his side, but odds were never something that intimidated the boy. It normally would do the opposite for the boy, encouraging him to see if he could beat them, but JeY and him had no reason to fight. Sure, Nero hated the guys guts even mores so after he would try to talk down to Nero, but he wouldn't even look mad. In fact, after taking the gun away from his partner, Nero would begin laugh rather intently. This jackass really was full of himself, so much so that Nero couldn't even keep a straight face when looking at his stupid glowing eyes. JeY was embarrassing himself in Nero's eyes, especially if this was his attempt at pissing off or getting to the boy.
"There's no way you can really be so stupid, is there? You really think I'm only going after these guys because they got away with my treasure?! How can you talk down to me when you're just as idiotic as they are?!" Once Trojia informed the boy that they didn't just want his treasures, Nero figured that there would be something bigger going on. The fact that these bandits had used the teen's notes and his partner to find these treasures only made him feel even more responsible for what ever would happen. He may have been just a selfish treasure hunter through JeY's eyes, he wouldn't even care enough to change that image of him, but the idea of these guys causing something to happen to this world solely due to his notes, he couldn't just walk away from that. "Look, these were my notes, I know every damn treasure they have, even the one you're after, this is my damn fault. What you're doing here is denying me a chance to fix my stupid mistake. I don't care if your cocky ass could kill me in a single punch, this is my job. I'm gonna see the damn thing through."
Nero would look the man in the eye and smirk before continuing. He was pretty certain JeY wouldn't agree to anything less to a mutual deal here, if even that, but he still had a trick up his sleeve. Seeing how much of a arrogant fool JeY was, Nero assumed would have to play a little dirty and risky, but this wasn't a foreign concept to the boy. "But, since you seemed so inclined to stop me from completing my job under my terms, why don't I return the favor." Spinning the revolver in his hand and aiming at JeY's head, Nero would smile and tilt his head before flipping the gun to his own head. "Go ahead, keep thinking you're better than me, I'd love to see how your wits get you out of delivering a dead Nero corpse to Cheri. I'm sure she'd completely understand. She totally wouldn't cut you into tiny pieces and put you in her breakfast cereal."
Nero's voice would be in his usual sarcastic tone, but his face would lose the smirk that was normally on it. Honestly, Nero wouldn't even hesitate if he saw the man try any of his tricks, he wasn't about to let this asshole even attempt to see him as a spec of dirt. Sure, Nero was just human, but that had never discouraged the boy before and it didn't look as if that was going to change today. JeY had been wondering what was so special about this kid, perhaps he'd find it in this stunt the boy had just pulled. Nero may have been a lot of things, but he wasn't someone that could simply be broken with a simple speech, and he wanted JeY to know that. Obviously, he wouldn't simply throw all of what JeY had said out the window just because the jerk was insulting him. He did bring up some good points, like the fact that the stakes had changed, but that wasn't enough for Nero to take orders from this prick.
While Nero and JeY were at each other's throats, Trojia would be looking away from the bickering boy, ignoring him up until the he had finished his cigarette. Shaking his head as he looked over at his protege, Trojia would finally have enough. "Why the hell do any of us need to in charge in the first place?! You and the kid just want to stop these guy's from causing any major damage, I just want to get back at these bastards for capturing me and forcing me to work for them. Can't you jackasses just go in and stop this guy? You both want the same thing. Or, let me guess, you idiots are too stubborn for that... Ugh." Really, Trojia couldn't care less about what the bandits had planned, but this was ridiculous. Both JeY and Nero's egos were clashing with each other, when the two idiots wanted the same thing. Still, Trojia wouldn't wait to see if they would be able agree to terms, he'd simply turn away from the two again, lighting another cigarette. He may have had a bit of an brash reaction to JeY's outburst earlier, but he was over that as soon as Nero took the gun away. These two were just annoying him.
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Post by JeY k on May 27, 2014 10:40:22 GMT -5
Oh wow, what a vibrant display of absolute stupidity. As the boy put a gun to his own head, JeY would actually let out three entire breaths of laughter, despite his typical stoic demeanor. His dry, coarse voice made it a little strange-sounding, since JeY never laughs, but this was truly funny enough where it would be too powerful to automatically suppress. JeY's been tempted to laugh on countless occasions, but this situation really took the cake. He couldn't believe what he was dealing with right now.
"Well, allow me to inform you since you're so keen on being an immature little brat, but calling me stupid and pulling a stunt like this is getting you nowhere. In fact, I've jammed the gun - you'll find that attempting to operate any of the moving parts will result in nothing budging a single inch. So, good luck with that." While it was faint, there were slight barely-noticeable glowing bits of Create energy that JeY manifested on certain parts of the guns mechanics, which locked the entire firearm in place. Cocking the hammer, pulling the trigger and attempting to reload would all be impossible.
"Next, I don't remember there ever being a point where what I said would impede on your 'job'. I'm merely establishing a thorough chain of command. I never once implied that I was trying to prevent you from doing anything. Pay attention, next time." And then of course, there was the older gentleman attempting to resolve the issue, making a decent point, but with Nero there was seemed to be a rather glaring issue in his demeanor toward the operation, one that JeY didn't agree with. Seemed he just wanted some revenge, which was good enough. JeY really didn't care about whole ordeal, but it seemed Nero never really dealt with someone like JeY before, and he wasn't about to let him get off easy. It was for his own good, as the boy would now be well more acquainted with people like him. He knew exactly what he was doing, as well.
If the boy was done being a stubborn child, JeY would be fine with getting this party started by raising his left arm and causing a portal to appear nearby where he knocked out the camels from before. "You both have exactly thirty seconds to go through before I do, to which it closes behind. It leads nearby where I knocked out the escaping camels." If they were any bit hesitant, they wouldn't be able to take this opportunity to catch up pretty quickly to where they needed to go. JeY was also quite a bit fed up with Nero, so assuming he decided to make an ever bigger scene, there would be no portal and instead JeY would continue their lovely conversation.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on May 27, 2014 16:31:18 GMT -5
Man, was this guy a prick. It didn't matter how many things he'd try to do to make the boy see it his way, Nero wouldn't be swayed. Sure, locking Nero's gun probably would have been the point where any sane individual would have just folded their hand and walked away, but Nero wasn't about to give this guy the satisfaction. JeY was still a weak man in Nero's mind, he may have had his strange magic abilities, but take those away, this guy was nothing. Nero always hated JeY's type, the type he considered to be hiding behind their abilities, having no real sense of worth beyond that. It was funny to him, JeY could talk down to the boy about his wits or even laugh at the stunts he would try to pull, but the man would still remain oblivious to one rather obvious fact. Despite being so sure that he was smarter than the boy, why didn't these people want his notes on any of these treasure? Or better yet, why didn't he go and get this treasure he wanted for himself before these people did? It all just went towards the point Nero was trying to make, but he knew it'd be a waste of breath to even attempt to mention anything of value to this man. His head was too far in it's journey up his own ass, Nero could only pray that a rescue team could pull the head out one day, but it was looking rather bleak for the man's head.
"Thorough chain of command my ass. Cheri sent you here with me as little more than a back-seat driver and you're trying to tell me that you're the one calling the shots? Bullshit. I have more involved with this problem than you do, yet you seem to think just because you have your stupid pinkinty-ass mojo it automatically the leader of the group. If I walk through that freaking portal, I'm not going in as your inferior. That's not what this is. We have the same goal you moron, yet you have to be the one that's in charge just to appease your cute little ego. What a joke you are." Rolling his eyes, Nero would toss his partner his gun back, resting his hands on his hips. For someone who called Nero immature, this really was the pot calling the kettle black. He was sure JeY wouldn't man-up and see that they were both in the wrong here, as the man was too big of an idiot for his own good. Of course, the arrogant man would never admit such a thing.
Still, Trojia really did have a point with what he had said before, but Nero just couldn't see himself and JeY being able to come to terms with any sort of deal here. JeY saw Nero as just a lowly spec of dirt and Nero saw the man as an over-glorified turd, so the odds of them actually cooperating were spectacularly low. Trojia wouldn't open his mouth this time, there was no reason to really. He had nothing new to say to either of them, but Nero wouldn't just let the man off with simply calling him a joke. Shaking his head and laughing a bit, Nero would try to level with man. "You don't like me and I sure as hell don't like you, so we're not going to get anywhere with this crap. Every second we spend insulting each other could be spent hunting these guys down, but here we are, at each others throats for the sake of our egos. You need to get over yourself, I need to get over myself. We finish this fast, then we never have to see each other again. I get my treasures back, you can have the one you're seeking, then that's it. Can you handle that much, or do you want to point out how inferior I am to you some more? If so, you may as well walk through that damn portal by yourself, 'cause I'm sure as hell not going to help you."
Nero honestly didn't expect this to work in any way, but he figured he'd put it out there. He wouldn't be able to go with JeY if the man insisted on being the brains of the operation, he never did like being told what to do, especially when someone as smug as JeY would try to boss him around. Even if JeY decided to just take the portal without him, Nero wouldn't be affected. He and Trojia would just head off on their own, trying to stop these guys without JeY. It's what they had done before, why would they change things up now?
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Post by JeY k on Jun 3, 2014 14:48:10 GMT -5
How cute, instead of just letting it go and taking the easy way into the heart of the bandits, the boy decided to go on a rambling spree with more gibberish about how JeY was full of himself. Nothing he didn't already know. Though, to JeY, some kid like Nero would just never understand. There really was no point in taking this any further. JeY was stuck here because of Cherika and the boy was stuck with him because of the same reason. With that in mind, he didn't lie about what he said earlier regarding the portal, so unfortunately that was going to still take effect.
"...Twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty," JeY said aloud after the boy was done, then snapped his fingers before shutting the portal. "Time's up." Whoops, seems the boy forgot about the stipulation regarding the portal and insisted on his bullshit cooperation speech. Whatever, JeY didn't need to waste his time with these two anyway. As much as he just wanted to teleport and leave these two high and dry, letting them sit here in the middle of nowhere set to chase these guys on their own leads still left JeY just as unsettled as it did before, which caused the initial portal 'peace offering' (now that he accomplished anything with his awful attitude). Having followed through on closing the portal, he couldn't just open it again, could he.
Nope, things had to be far more complicated than that. So, he decided to take them by surprise instead. In order to possible get them to drop their guard, JeY started to turn away as if he was about to walk in the other direction. "You're right, as we insult each other we aren't making progress, so let's multitask shall we?" Perhaps by the way he turned and implied walking away, they would be walking together, but JeY had another, faster (and much more uncomfortable) idea. He teleported just behind them and suddenly grabbed onto their arms and took off into the sky. "We're gonna take a little trip in style! And to retaliate, you're the one who would have to hunt them down, I have the ability to locate auras from entire worlds away! Finding them again isn't any issue, and in fact I've known exactly where the escapees have been this entire time!"
He was flying rather high in the air at a mild speed, he didn't want to injure the two tag-alongs (that he forced into this situation) but he was still going at a decent pace. Much faster than walking or by a mount, that's for sure. Maybe not as fast as a ship, though. "Okay, your turn! What sort of smart-ass response you got for me now?" JeY said. It was like he was belittling Nero by turning this bickering the boy pointed out into some sort of cheap game. Of course, JeY ignored all the actual insults and only highlighted the hunting aspect of everything Nero said, making this a rather unfair session of whatever game he was playing as well.
It wouldn't take them long to reach the destination however, JeY's long-distance fire stopped most of them just short of them being in the route of escape for long, so by the time Nero finished whatever he had to say JeY would be slowing down at a group of injured camels and disgruntled bandits, using telekinesis to throw the guns out of their hands before they had a chance to possible fire at them, landing and possibly beginning the interrogation scene; if the bickering didn't continue anyway.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on Jun 4, 2014 6:28:07 GMT -5
Honestly, Nero was counting it as a gift from God when he thought this pain in the ass was going to leave him alone. Really, JeY probably thought of it as leaving them stranded alone in the desert, but Nero wasn't the kind of person who wasn't prepared for anything. Had JeY left the two there, Nero would have had to make a simple call from his radio, signaling Franco to come out of his hiding in the desert. Of course, none of this would matter now, but having a jeep with a turret mounted on the back waiting for his call go to waste was a little saddening. This whole experience was making him wish he would have just left Cheri without ever getting personally involved with her. Hell, this stunt JeY pulled ensured the boy that he wouldn't be going with JeY back to the crazed girl. The man would have better luck killing the boy than bringing him back to the bitch who got him involved with this piece of crap.
Trojia was tense when picked up, but really didn't seem so scared, Nero on the other hand.... He would be kicking and grunting, throwing punches and kicks rapidly at the man's sides. The poor teen was terrified of heights, and he'd rather be dropped down and die than have to suffer being held this high in the air by the smug man. Though, Nero would become infuriated with this man when he had mentioned he knew where the people were the whole time. He wasn't bothered that he hadn't told him before, Nero was honestly more pissed that he did tell him. He didn't need this kill-joy doing his work for him, he and Trojia could handle whatever the trouble these guys were causing was, they always did. Now here comes JeY, thinking that Nero would even be silenced by that mere fact. "You wanna know what I have to say about that? Drop dead. I don't need you here, no matter how much aura you sense. In fact, after you get the stupid trinket you're after, just go ahead and go back to Cheri, I'm not coming with. I don't give a crap about what she ordered you to do, we're done. That goes for Cheri too, I'm not gonna be involved with anyone who associates with you. You can go ahead and tell your boss that, you pathetic errand-boy." Hawking a loogie towards JeY's face, Nero would remain silent until he was released by JeY.
Snatching his hand away after they had reached lthe small group of left over bandits, Nero would be about to tell JeY off some more, but would notice something about them that was a little odd. Though, he wouldn't have enough time to mention anything to JeY before he used his cheap-ass powers to fling the guns away from the men. "Whoa, wait up, jack-ass." removing his pistol and rifle off of his person, Nero would hold up his hands and slowly walk towards the small group of bandits, kneeling down when he reached the nearest one. "I thought so.." Shaking his head and reaching into his side pouch, Nero would toss the injured bandit an extra roll of bandages . "Here moron, stop the bleeding." As Nero had thought, it appeared of few of the men in the bandits group were injured, which wouldn't be too odd, but the fact they were injured with bullet wounds struck the boy as odd. Nero and Trojia didn't fire a shot at these guys and JeY didn't even use guns, so who shot the bandits?
Still, Trojia would grunt and roll his eyes as his protege offered assistance toward the injured bandit. He was pretty much just in his annoyance, as these were the same people who had planned to capture and use Nero for their goals. With the fact that they had done that to Trojia, the old man was a little aggravated, but he'd keep his mouth shut. Nero may have been a little hot-headed at times, but the kid was no idiot through Trojia's eyes, Trojia knew he had to have some sort of reason for showing these guys some form of mercy.
Trojia was right in a way, as Nero had thought about what he was doing. If what Nero assumed what had happened to these guys was correct, he wasn't just trying to butter the left-behind bandits up, he felt genuine pity for them. From the looks of this small group, this seemed to be a simple bait group, a tactic Nero had seen plenty of times before. Why they were shot, well that was an easy one, after one of them figured out what their small groups purpose was, they most likely objected, earning the group a nice helping of bullets all around. The teen truthfully despised betrayal in any context, even when scumbags such as these were the victims of it, making Nero a bit less-hostile towards this group when addressing them. Of course, should one of them give him any problems, Nero wouldn't be stuck in his easy-going demeanor, instead he'd use the strategies Trojia had taught him for interrogation. Though, he kind of hoped that it wouldn't come to that, as that'd just be unnecessary bloodshed.
Standing up and pulling out the notebook that had got Trojia involved with these guys in the first place. Holding it out and opening it, Nero would point to the treasure JeY had mentioned he was after. "See, I can stay this clam and pleasant, but there's a catch, you just have to answer three questions. Number one:What the hell did you want with this thing?" Making sure everyone in the group could see the clipping of the picture in his notebook, Nero would continue."Number two: What did you idiots want with me? And most importantly, number three: Where did you take all these damn items?"
Taking a step back and placing his guns back on his, Nero would give the men a stern look. At this point, he'd be fine if they answered only the question about the treasure JeY was seeking, as that would mean that they could go get and then Nero would never have to see the jerk again in his life. Of course, the boy wouldn't be planning to leave Agrabah without retrieving the treasure he had come here for or the ones Trojia had been forced to gather, but he'd be more than willing to put those to the side if it meant getting JeY out of his hair.
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Post by JeY k on Jun 4, 2014 17:42:06 GMT -5
All the flailing in the world would hardly dent or deter JeY's flight pattern, he felt the hits on his frail human body but being strengthened by his unnatural energy sustained the hits too well for any damage to actually be caused. Once he was done with his bodily tantrum though, Nero decided to throw a more verbal one. JeY would laugh if he could, but simply remained on target. Fortunately they were flying fast enough where the spit couldn't quite reach its mark, instead curving early and landing on his shirt. The man wouldn't appreciate that very much.
"...I'm going to tell you why that's a huge mistake in a minute. We're here." And wah-lah, destination achieved, with the first order of business being JeY coating his hand in Chaos energy and brushing off the fluids from his shirt, managing to completely cleanse the spot in one sweep. Amazing what he was capable of sometimes. Nero and Troija did their thing while JEY stood back for a minute. He would get what he wanted soon enough, despite his horrid ego issues he was still patient. He found it quite curious that he wanted to help the bandit's wounds however, JeY could've assisted with his own talents but he had no interest in aiding these fellas.
When the boy started asking questions, JeY quickly realized that his whole nursing strategy was just a clever interrogation tactic. Cute, but the look on these men's faces told JeY that they were not very hardened, that they would not want to die when directly threatened. One brandishing of a large sword to their necks and they'd be willing to spill anything. But, he would simply let the boy carry on. One guy towards the left finally spoke up. "We... don't know. With the amount we were being paid, asking questions isn't too worthwhile. The guy was obsessed with power though, not so much wealth, since he had so much. As for you, well, it was your notebook, you'd know more about the items than anyone. As for where... there's a camp underground near the Cave of Wonders, but the one who shot us and got away is the only one who knows how to get in. That's all I know, I swear." He seemed pretty calm as well, the whole atmosphere was very low key thanks to the boy.
All very interesting indeed. JeY didn't happen to be paying attention to the item or hear anything, but when the bandit said 'power over wealth' he was interested. Must've been what caused JeY to get into this mess into the first place. Seemed Nero was very, very eager to ditch JeY as soon as possible, however it was as easy as pointing him in the direction he wanted and sending him away. That was aggravating, but JeY wasn't one to lose his temper. He got out all of his trolling in the exchanges before, there's no benefit in continuing to piss Nero off. Rather, a simple matter-of-fact that is useful to him would be the best way to go. JeY wasn't a complete dick all the time, it seemed.
"It's about a hundred and fifty feet west of the cave itself, if I'm tracking him correctly. Don't worry, you're on your own from here on out, but about earlier. Listen. You know what imprinting is, right? The things ducklings do to determine their mother? She's practically imprinted on you. If I come back empty handed her next task for me is to retrieve you or for me to bring her directly to you instead. You're not getting out of it that easily. But, you have two good options from what I can think of," he said, taking a slight breath to make sure Nero was listening. "One, Go to her and break things off in person, the best thing would be to tell her exactly what you told me. I can make sure you get out alive if it gets ugly, but I doubt it will. Two, fake your death for her to personally witness and probably never go to radiant garden again."
Well, those probably weren't the only two options, but they were the two most feasible ones. JeY wasn't going to lie to Cherika in any way, shape or form for any reason, otherwise he's screwed out of their deal, so telling her he just happened to die was not going to work. If the boy could think of a better plan, JeY would be impressed, but he didn't find it likely. He was most likely going to have to see her in person. Regardless, this would be where they parted ways for the time being, as he was certain he would be seeing the boy one final time to deal with the Cherika issue.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on Jun 4, 2014 23:11:29 GMT -5
Hearing the bandit cooperate, Nero would feel a little cocky. After all, he hadn't even had to break any of these bandit's bones or even rough one up, they seemed a bit happy to cooperate. It was nice, something Nero couldn't say often. Though, his content with himself would be cut short, hearing information about the bandit's employer. Sure, Nero had suspicions that the people he was dealing with hadn't just wanted munny, but it did kind of suck to have it confirmed. Why did things always have to be so complicated? Why couldn't the bandit just say "Hmm, they just wanted the munny, so the jewels are right here! Also, JeY's a butt-head." Of course, this would never happen, but Nero could dream. Despite giving him news he was pretty much aware of, the bandits were helpful and even were able to spill the beans about where their former camp was. They seemed to have no sense of loyalty to the group they were from, something that would to be expected after being betrayed by their employer, but Nero couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for them. It wasn't so much that he wanted to help them, it was more along the lines that he felt they were just embarrassing themselves looking so pathetic out in the desert. Though, Nero wouldn't have time to think upp a plan for them right away, as JeY would begin to speak. Giving the man the scowl he usually did, Nero's face would morph into a surprised expression. JeY was being... Useful? That was strange. Perhaps he got sick of insulting the boy, just as Nero was similarly bored of insulting JeY. After all, the negative comments about each other would really start to lose their effectiveness, especially when considering the fact that insults were pretty much the only way they communicated.
Though, JeY didn't seem to have a harsh theme going on with this little bit of information, instead he would simply tell the boy that they were no longer bound by Cheri's deal and gave him some insight on how to handle the girl. Why couldn't the prick always be like this? sure, he still wasn't Nero's favorite person in the world or anything even close, but this simple little bit of dialogue earned JeY a little respect in Nero's book. Taking what he said about Cheri into consideration, Nero would place his hand over his chin and smile."Imprinted? Well, that's a new one. I mean, I usually have some sort of effect on women, but that's just... Weird. Well, with Cheri, I'm not really surprised." Wait, why he was feeling cocky? He didn't want this chick super incited with him! Still, with these bandits actually looking for power instead of fortune, Nero and JeY didn't really have time to discuss how he handle Cheri. "I'll think of something when we don't have some jackass trying to make something dastardly happen with a vase.... God, you really can't say that say that with a straight face, can you?" Resting his hands on his hips, Nero would grab his radio off of his belt and hold it up to his mouth. "Peanut-butter banana, Franco!" After finishing his weird code-name, Nero would aim his pistol up and fire a round, leaving Trojia with a bit of a puzzled look on his face. "Kid, are you chasing some sort of dragon here? What the hell was that about?"
Holding his hand up with one finger extended, Nero would wait a few seconds before turning around and pointing to a jeep that was slightly in the distance, gaining on the small group rather quickly. "Well, I figured neither of us enjoyed flying air-JeY very much, so I figured I may as well call this bad-boy in." After seeing his ride pull up, the short and round man would hop out, walking up to the teen and his dysfunctional group. Before Franco could even begin to flap his lips and annoy the boy with his kindness, Nero would pat the man on his shoulder and silence him. "Change of plans Franco, I'm gonna need you to stay with these guys and call for another ride back into the city, me and my partner are gonna need this one. As for them, eh, you can always use more scouts for your business." Franco would automatically look at JeY, assuming him to be the partner, but his eyes would soon focus on the older gentleman smoking a cigarette. Franco had merely heard stories about the old man from Nero, but seeing the man would leave Franco a bit uneasy. Nero had described the man as a cold and brutal killer at times, yet still an older man, something Franco hadn't necessarily believed when he was told, but there was no denying it now. Hell, the man's build was ten times better than Franco's, who was younger than Trojia. But then again, it wasn't saying much to be in better shape than Franco. Waddling his way over to the man, Franco would extend his hand towards, leaving the old man with a bit of an annoyed look on his face. Just how many people had Nero associated with while they were separated? Everyone of them he had met seemed either annoying or just difficult, he could only imagine what this Cheri character must have been like, but he wouldn't worry about that right this moment.
"So, Nero is your boy then, eh? Well, I've treated him well, better than my own actually!" After his awkward sentence, the man would let out a nervous laugh. Sadly, he truly did treat Nero better than his son, but that wasn't saying much. Shaking his head and grunting a bit, Trojia would shake the greasy man's hand/ "Yeah, something like that. Trojia. Thanks for keeping the kid's nose clean." Trojia would sound genuine and sincere, but in all actuality couldn't care anything for the man and was sure that Nero kept Franco alive, if anything. Leaving the man standing next to JeY and Nero, Trojia would walk towards the jeep and begin examining it. It wasn't anything the old man couldn't handle, as he had driven plenty of vehicles in his time, he had even had a bit of time with driving a gummi-ship during his time away from Nero, but that was a story for another time. Climbing into the seat, Trojia would light another cigarette while he waited for his protege to jump in the jeep. Though, Nero would have to take care of a bit of business before hand, mainly paying Franco for the job, but there was one other thing. After exchanging some friendly banter with Franco, Nero would slap a small pouch of munny into the man's hand then wave to him. Nero would head towards the jeep, but instead make a sudden stop, looking at JeY. Nero would have a bit of an annoyed look on his face. "Ugh, okay, listen. Now don't you get the wrong idea about this, but I was thinking..."
Scratching the back of his head and letting out a sigh, Nero would continue. "Now, we aren't working together on this by any mean, we've established that, but that doesn't mean we're working against each other. Believe it or not, we want the same thing, as odd as that is. Look, if it comes down to it and this guy really is all powered up by that vase or something, you'd stand a better chance against him than I would. Me and Troy can handle the grunts and stragglers they leave behind, you can handle vase-boy. But,I'm sure you'll be there ten years before us, so you know, it doesn't re-." Before Nero could finish, Trojia would interrupt the boy with the horn of the jeep. "C'mon kiddo, we're wasting a lot of time just standing around!" Glaring at Trojia a bit, Nero would turn back to JeY and shrug while walking away. "Think about it." Nero would call out to the man as he hopped in to the passenger side of the jeep and sped off. Trojia had remembered what JeY had said, tuning the jeeps GPS to a rough estimate of the area JeY had given them. As they drove away, Trojia would tap the boy on the shoulder, geting his attention only to question him.
"So, when are planning to fill me in on this Cheri girl?" Rolling his eyes and looking away from the man, Nero would chuckle a bit. "There's nothing to fill you in on, she's just a bit of a new friend." Hearing Nero's lie, Trojia would take a drag of his cigarette, smiling ear to ear. "You are the worst liar, kid. Besides, from what JeY said earlier, it seems that you're far more than just friends. Come on Nero, cut the crap! What is she to you, just a fun night, or a lover?" Scowling with a bit of a grunt, Nero would shake his head and wipe his face with his right hand. "Trust me, she's not my lover, just another girl who thinks that I am the one. That's it Troy, just drop it." Laughing and patting the teen on his shoulder, Trojia would lighten up on his partner. "Alright, I get it, touchy subject. Don't worry kid, you'll figure it out."
Shedding a bit of a smile Nero would hatch a brilliant idea. "Well, you know Troy, people used to always tell me, be careful who y-."
"Just stop, kid. You always gotta ruin our goddamn moments with your stupid-ass humor."
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I spoil some romantic moment for you, Troy? I love you buddy, but I think your taking it the wrong way." Simply pointing at the teen, Trojia would scowl at him and look back towards the road. "That's it, you've lost your talking privileges. I don't wanna hear a goddamn word, you got it?!" Nero would cross his arms and look away from his mentor, keeping his mouth shut. While the troubled duo would continue their bickering ride towards the camp, Nero couldn't help but wonder how things had to be on JeY's end. Nero didn't really care, as they'd all be meeting up in the same place anyway, but Nero was beginning to wonder who would have been worse to travel with at this point. Trojia and JeY were both being a pain in his ass.
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Post by JeY k on Jun 5, 2014 14:35:49 GMT -5
Huh. No smart-ass dim-witted replies. Maybe this kid wasn't as far gone after all, having also realized at the same time as JeY that continuing to be pointlessly stubborn was an obsolete use of time. The chaotic man would've been fine with Nero continuing to be so spiteful to the point where there was almost zero cooperation, as it might've been fun to actually have to round him up later, but he seemed to have leveled out. This was a serious issue pertaining to the boy after all, and it wasn't JeY's problem in the slightest so telling him hints on how to deal with it was of no benefit to him, but he figured he may as well.
Unfortunately, he assumed just one too many details. "...Just to clarify, this person wouldn't receive any direct benefits - it's merely the centerpiece for a ritual designed to bring a dragon back to life; a creature that was created by the ones that imprisoned me with the sole purpose of annihilating an entire civilization. They lost control of it, couldn't kill it, so did the next best thing, sealed it to a dormant state. I know the dragon personally, it will not heed to the beck and call of anyone who frees it, just because they freed it, raising the stakes a little." It was a long-winded explanation maybe, but the man felt Nero definitely needed to know what exactly the situation here was. It was unlikely that they had all the pieces of the ritual since it's a complex ordeal if he remembered correctly, but every moment they possessed the artifact posed a certain danger.
"In any case, I'll make sure I leave the door open for you." There was no reason to reply Nero's own long-winded speech about not working against each other or some sappy shit like that, JeY really didn't care, and as much fun as it would be to leave him high and dry he wasn't going to quite do that. At least, not yet. Maybe he was making things too easy, but he could always open another portal. With a jeep already here, meh, they can do whatever. JeY simply vanished on the spot.
At the base, JeY was already putting his blindfold back on, taking a perimeter scan. the item in question gave off a strong radiant aura, there was no difficulty in locating it, though where it was contained was the issue. Rather than throwing it into a safe or into a locked room, it was on a shelf in a room of active security; not patrolling, but on post. There were a couple ways this could be done though - he could just go in, take it, and immediately leave, but that would put everything on high alert and make things much more difficult for Nero. Perhaps he should just go in and subdue the necessary guards and then figure out who's leading this operation. That sounded like a plan!
So, with a quick shadow warp inside and raising his hand, shadow tendrils whipped from the walls and strangled the four guards around until they were unconscious. He didn't feel the need to kill anyone this time, so that was a thing. Not wasting any time, he went directly to the artifact, but decided to inspect it first before immediately removing it. In fact, upon looking around, the treasure in all the places was just out in the open and easy to take. What was to stop the guards themselves from looting it? Something was definitely suspicious here. JeY didn't see any tripwire or indications of a pressure plate among the boundaries of his environment with aura vision, but there must be some sort of security attached to the artifacts in the room. He was tempted to slip off his blindfold for a minute to take a peek, but that's when he noticed something else in the corner of his 'eye'.
There was a small beacon in the top center of the room, and looking back at the vase he was interested in... there was a small chip stuck to the back that didn't match the outline form what he could perceive. This was some super-advanced stuff. The owner was definitely not from Agrabah. 'Nero, the ring leader here has some advanced security in place. Tech that shouldn't exist in Agrabah. Be extra cautious.' One mental note later transmitted to the boy, and he'd have to figure out a way around this. His first instinct was to fry the beacon, but maybe it has a anti-tampering system. Looking around, one of the guards happened to have a book - something sturdy and perhaps large enough to be a replacement.
JeY grabbed the book and walked back over to the vase, exerting some telekinetic energy. He held the sensor in place while attempting to rip the artifact from under it, which he succeeded after a bit of strain. He went to put the book up, noticing that it was just slightly too tall. Well, that wouldn't do. Ripping off the tops of the majority of the pages, he shrunk the stature just enough to let the sensor rest peacefully on the parchment. Letting go of his telekinetic grasp, everything went flawlessly. Perfect. Now, just to face whoever was in charge.
A quick scan of the aura in this facility revealed... nothing out of the ordinary. There was definitely a much stronger presence before, where the hell was it now? Was he out on vacation? This would certainly be an interesting hut. Maybe the head of operations was alerted to the camp being destroyed and left. He would have to find a way to track him down, but for now, there was just one last thing to do. Warping back to the outside of the facility, everything sure did look plain from the outside maybe, but JeY could see the hidden elevator. It was a manual crank, fascinating, but it could do with some showing. One last exercise of telekinetic strength, JeY heaved rather hard in order to get the reels to start moving, after which it was a steady climb. After a few moments, the transport lifted from the sand and locked in place. Perfect. Now all Nero had to do was step inside and turn the crank. Hopefully no immediate door guards would be posted before he got there.
When everything would be all said and done, considering Nero didn't ask for any extra assistance (not that he knew how to access the chaotic man's telepathy), he would be waiting back in Nero's room to discuss the next topic of interest: what to do about Cherika.
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Nero Bleu
Human
Did you get the license plate number of that log?!
Posts: 270
Hover Image: http://i.imgur.com/LrlKpVr.png
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Post by Nero Bleu on Jun 7, 2014 19:42:39 GMT -5
Hearing JeY's voice in his head, Nero would feel a bit confused. Sure, if JeY hadn't shown himself to have his various powers, Nero would have assumed he was just drunk or something, but he was sure that the blindfolded man had some sort of way of contacting him mentally. Still, JeY did actually have some decent information, warning Nero that the place was guarded very well, but Nero had expected that. After all, people don't just round up that many treasures and guard them lightly, there was a big sum of munny in it for whoever cashed those little wonders in. Though, Nero was sure whoever had stolen these things was one of those idiots who believed in cursed treasures, so it's not like there was any rush to get them before he was able to sell them. Honestly, even JeY's belief of a stupid dragon sealed in a vase was a little stupid to Nero, but there was no point in making any comment about it. Even if Nero didn't believe that there was any thing special about that vase, he would have been ready to act with even the threat of it having a slight possibility to happen. But that was JeY's crusade, Nero only had to focus on his stolen treasures for now. "Apparently, the place is heavily guarded, Troy. Let's try not to set anything off, I'd rather not have my neck broken by some stupid burly guard. I like to think I'm worthy of a better death than that. Like, maybe driving off a ciff while getting shot at by walruses with jet-packs or some-." Trojia flicked the the boy on the side of the head, interrupting his stupid comment. "First off, what happened to no talking? Secondly, no shit Sherlock. Of course this damn things are guarded heavily, the camp they were holding me in was just a shelter for a few nights and look at all the guards they managed to get in there." Shaking his head and letting out a chuckle, Trojia would raise an eyebrow at the boy. "Wait, you really think you're worthy of the worlds first walrus-cide? Come on now, kid. I could maybe see you getting away with getting your ass kicked by an elephant, but you're really not worth a walruses time, especially one that's able to fly around on a jet-pack and fire a gun."Yes, the two men were really discussing Nero's dumb comment instead of the bases security, but that was just how comfortable Nero and Trojia were with this kind of job. Trojia had always preferred jobs that were mostly dependent on stealth, making the duo even more confident that this would go smoothly. As they were getting closer to the base, Nero would begin to climb to the back of the jeep, planning on hopping on the turret connected to the back of it. The turret itself was nothing too spectacualr, just a simple DShK mounted machine gun. Nero had operated a few of them before in his days, so this was a very familiar toy to Nero, but what he wasn't familiar with was having his partner around once again. Being pulled back into his seat by his partner, Nero would feel the jeep come to a very sudden stop, resulting in Nero's head slamming into the dash board of the vehicle. "If we wanna keep ourselves hidden, driving up to the damn front door and blasting it with that damn turret isn't the wisest idea, kid. Also, wear your goddamn seat-belt, Nero! This is the prime of example of what it's for, dumbass." With that, Trojia would hop out of the jeep, grabbing the teen's binoculars off of his belt and looking through them at the base. He wouldn't want to call Nero a liar right on the spot, but the outside of the base didn't look very well-guarded. Then again, Trojia couldn't put it past these guys to purposely make the base look that way, so he wouldn't take this at face value. Scanning the area outside the base, Trojia couldn't see any place that looked like a good entrance right away. Every place that even looked slightly promising to the old man had far too many flaws. Well, that was true up until he spotted an elevator out in the open. Despite being a bit unnatural for the area around the base, it coud be a perfect way in, besides, it's not like he had a plethora of choices to go from. "There, that elevators our way in, kiddo. Catch your breath for a second, then let's get our loot back. I collected all that crap, you wrote all the notes, it's not even stealing at this point. You won't have to go into bitch mode about not wanting to steal." Giving the boy a smug smile, Trojia would watch as his protege finally hopped out of the jeep himself, rubbing his forehead as he approached the old man. "Agh, dammit. I think you bruise my damn forehead, jerk-weed." Taking a look for himself, Nero would see the elevator his mentor was talking about, not feeling as sure about it as his mentor seemed to. The teen had a bad track record with elevators, most either crashing down to the bottom floor in a rapid falling motion when he had the misfortune of riding them. Of course, Nero had the equally annoying situation of the elevator simply getting stuck, which was just as bad as elevator plummeting down in his mind. Still, he didn't have a better plan himself, so he didn't have much of a reason to object to it. Making sure he had full clips in both of his firearms, Nero would pat Trojia on the back and nod his head. He'd ignore the man's teasing about his unwilling attitude towards stealing, if not just to save time. Slowly but silently, the two men were able to sneak their way to the elevator like they had planned in the distance. Trojia would see this as just natural due to his mastery of stealth, but something about it just didn't sit right with Nero. Even if he had expected to reach the elevator undetected, Nero had thought he or Trojia would have to knock out a guard or two, yet there wasn't any in sight. It was unsettling to the boy, to say the least. Though Nero wouldn't have too much time to think about what was going on in this place, as Trojia would grab the boy's arm and drag him into the elevator, beginning to crank the lever inside. "I'll tell you what, kid, I haven't seen one of these thing in ages! Really, some places had these crank elevators when I was growing up. It really just goes to show-.""Yeah yeah, I got it. Back in your day, you had to crank elevators and gas was cheaper. I'm sure you also used to play stick-ball with the neighborhood kids, whatever. Troy, doesn't something seem off here to you? We haven't seen one guard yet, this place is supposed to be guarded up the wazoo! Something stinks here." Nero would cut Trojia off, leaving the old man with a angry expression. True, his partner did have a valid point, but that was no excuse to be an ass. Thinking about it, Nero would snap his fingers/ "If JeY's already been in and out of here, the goons are probably in the treasure room. It's where I'd go if I had just gotten something stolen from a smug prick like JeY." Continuing to turn the elevators crank, Trojia would nod in agreement, as it made sense. Who wouldn't tighten up the security for their treasures after being robbed? But that thought would make a rather important question enter Trojia's mind. Where the hell was this treasure room? It'd seem a little silly to just walk around this base, casually trying the room filled with their treasures. "Yeah, you're right on that one, kid. We just have to find the damn treasure room in this freaking maze of a base." Nero would chuckle a bit patting his partner on the back. " "Don't worry, old timer, we'll find our way there, we aways do. Besides, this thing probably leads somewhere near-." With the sound of the elevator reaching the bottom floor, Nero would be interrupted by two hands grasping the boy by his neck, pulling him out of the elevator and tossing the boy over the railing that was in front of them. Nero wouldn't fall too far though, as he was only thrown to the bottom of the two-story room. Still, landing flat on his back, Nero would feel just a bit of pain, but it wasn't anything the boy hadn't dealt with before. Getting up a bit sluggishly, Nero would see just why the rather large man had thrown him down on ground below, as he was surrounded by a nice sized group of bandits. Though, what really cayght his attention was what was behind this group of men. On the walls behind them, Nero would be a bit dumb-founded to see that the lesser treasures Trojia had gathered were al against the back wall of room, almost as if these people were just using them as decoration. Great, not only did these people believe that a dragon could fit in a vase, these morons were really using Nero's treasures as simple decor? That was it, Nero was beyond fed up with this expedition. Luckily, he saw a few jackasses in front of him he could vent these frustrations on. "Found it! These idiots thought our treasures were so pretty, they decided to hang them up. Damn guys are treating them like a freaking macaroni art drawing." Getting ready for the brawl he was forced into, Nero would reach for his rifle, only finding his sling without the rifle that was attached to it. "Getting real sick of this bit!" He would shout out, looking straight up to see his rifle perfectly balanced on the railing he was thrown off of. Hearing one of the men chuckle, Nero would look over, seeing the smug bandit pull out a knife. Really, that was the best they had? Weak. Watching the bandit spin the knife in his hand, performing a few fast slashes to the air, as if to frighten the teen. Blowing some air out of his nose, Nero would look away from the bandit, smiling and shaking his head. In one quick motion, the boy whipped out his pistol and blasted the man right between the eyes, taking him out instantly. "Seriously guys, knife to a gun fight. There's an expression in there somewhere, idiots." Spinning his pistol in his hand, Nero would look at the remaining bandits, waiting for one of them to make a stupid move towards the boy. Oddly, it didn't appear any of these men had any firearms, something that would strike the boy as odd. Why use these men as guards for the treasure? It just seemed a little odd that they would trust these weaklings to guard the treasures, but perhaps the leader didn't even see these items as valuable or important. After all, he was already rich. Finally, a bandit would step up, rushing towards Nero and attacking the boy with a flurry of punches. Nero would side-step the first few punches, then drop down to his back, delivering a kick to the man's gut. Kicking himself back up on his feet, Nero threw a round-house kick towards the hunched-over man, finishing him off with with a back kick right in the center of his face. Really, Nero almost felt bad for these men, they were so under-prepared for anything he was capable of, it really made him wonder just why these guys were unarmed. Signalling the next man in line to step on up, the teen would watch as the bandit threw a simple straight punch, resulting in Nero locking the man's elbow in his arm, bending it upwards until he heard a familiar pop. Smiling at the man's pain-filled face, Nero would kick him down to the ground, Knowing the poor bandit wouldn't even attempt to get up. Geez, four more to take out. These guys may have not been very strong, but they sure did come in rather large numbers. Fortunately, the next bandit seemed just as idiotic as the last, bull-rushing towards the boy in an identical fashion. Grabbing the man's wrists, Nero would fall to his back, sending the man flying over him while digging his boot into the man's stomach. Hearing the bandit slam into the ground, Nero would looked back at him, ready to finish him off, but would see that he was already knocked out cold. Man, this one must have been extra weak. Resting his hands on his knees and panting a bit, Nero would look up at the remaining three men and hold up his hand. "My God, this is exhausting. Time-out for a second, I gotta catch my breath, here." Seeing this as their time to strike, the three remaining bandits would rush toward the boy. Nero would aim his gun towards the men, but would see them fall down instead after three gunshots were fired. Looking p, Nero would see his mentor's gun smoking from the top floor. It seemed Trojia had finally finished off the large man who had thrown Nero down here in the first place. "Quit screwing around, kid! Let's just get our loot and let's book it the hell out of here." Scowling up at his partner, Nero would throw up his hands in frustration. "Oh, I'm sorry grandpa Joe, did you have fun fighting your one guy! I had a damn barmitsfa down here!""Dammit kid, just-.""Yeah, I know. "Just shut up and grab the loot, kid. I wanna smoke some more, then hit a bar to see if I can score a women twenty-years younger than me." Interrupting his mentor with his impression of him, Nero would walk towards the wall of goodies, being stopped by the sound of a door slamming open at his side. Looking over, Nero would see a bandit that was larger than the one had thrown him down to the lower floor in the first place, leaving the smart-mouthed teen wide-eyed. He would try to prepare a smart-ass comment, but it seemed this brute was having none of that. Grabbing Nero by the back of his scarf before he could even move, The bandit would fling Nero to the other side of the room, resulting in the boy skidding until his head would hit the hard oak leg of a wooden desk. Holding the back of his head and grunting a bit, Nero would quickly get to his feet, seeing the large man swinging both his fist down towards the boy. Nero would roll to side, watching as the brute swung through the oak table instead of his head. "Mother of God! Do something, Troy!" Trojia would laugh to himself while folding his arms. "But I thought taking one guy was an easy task, you shouldn't need me, kid." Glaring back at his partner while continuing to dodge the bandit's attacks, Nero would let out another grunt. "Now, you pick now to give me a hard time? Jesus, I'm sorry for the imitation, now get your old ass down here!" As soon as Nero finished his remark towards his partner, he'd feel the bandit throw a punch at his side, knocking the teen flat on his back once again. Grabbing his partner's rifle from the railing, Trojia would vault over the railing and fire a few rounds of it into the large man's back, expecting that to be that. Unfortunately, the bandit would turn towards the old man, ripping off his thin white shirt and revealing a bullet-proof vest. Oh boy, this didn't look good for the old man. Before Trojia could even get another shot off, the brute grabbed the rifle from the man and chucked it to over by the wall of treasures, smiling deviously at Trojia. Putting up his fists, Trojia would be prepared to receive a few hits, but instead would see his partners arms wrap around the large man's neck. Hanging on for dear life on the man's back, Nero would look as if he was riding a bull as he called out to his partner. "Hit him with something, hit him with something!" Nero would sound terrified, and for good reason. Trying to answer his partners call, Trojia's first reaction would be to shoot the man in the head, but with Nero directly behind his head, it seemed like a bad idea. Trojia would instead grab the chair that was near the wooden desk the man had crushed and swing it over the man's head, watching as it shattered. The old man's eyes would widen, seeing the shocking sight that this brute just seemed completely un-phased by this chair. With the added rage from being hit with a chair, the man would swing Nero off of his back, throwing him near his rifle unintentionally. "What kind of steroids has this guy been taking?!" The man would call out while watching his protege get flung away. Knocking Trojia on his back with a strong right hook, Trojia would hold his face while glaring up at the man, who was about to continue the beating. Though his attention would be stolen by Nero's badly timed insult. "Whatever the hell he is taking, I'm afraid to see what he looks like below the waist. Can't be much after all of that- oh crap!" Looking up from his grounded state, Nero would see the man rushing towards him, looking more angry than ever. Frantically, the boy would crawl towards his rifle, feeling his ankle get grasped by the man. Clawing for his gun, Nero would barely reach the wooden stock of his gun, flipping it into position into his arms as the man would pull him towards him, getting ready to punch Nero's head in. Out of desperation, Nero would turn just as the man was about to throw the punch, jamming the the sight of his rifle into the man's left eye and pulling the trigger. Nero would have his eyes closed the whole time, only hearing the man's scream before feeling his body go limp. As far as Nero could tell, this fight seemed over. Well, almost, as he was still trapped under the man's body. Though, it wouldn't be very long until he felt the body being forced off of him. Wiping some blood spatter off of his face, Nero would reach for Trojia's hand, getting pulled up to his feet. "Man, I feel really bad for whoever slept with this guy. He's like a damn living boulder!" Patting his protege on the back Trojia would smile as he lead him to their treasures. "I really thought you were gonna go for another 'small-size' joke with that, kid." Pointing towards the treasure and handing Trojia his bag, an out of breath Nero would wheeze out a few words. "Just get the damn treasures." After a few minutes, Trojia would have the treasure all packed up, meaning the duo could finally just get out of here. Leading the teen to the elevator once more, Trojia would crank the elevator back up to the outside of the base, only with a lot less talking this time around. With the sound of the elevator opening once more, Trojia would pull out his pistol and scan the area, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. "Alright, I'm gonna go and get the jeep, you just watch out for any more of the bastards, kiddo. I'll swing around and pick you up." Nodding his head and aiming down his sights, Nero would watch as his partner would make his way to their jeep, seeing no more men coming in or out of the base. Odd, Nero had expected there to be many more men in the area, but it appeared not to be the case. Well, at least at first glance. Taking a sip from his canteen, Nero would hear the shuffling of feet coming out of the base, causing the teen to start slowly back peddling towards the jeep. As he would continue to head away from the base, Nero would see a few men run out of it, pointing at him and shouting. This time, they seemed to be armed, making Nero not as willing to take them head-on like the ones he had before. That and the fact that he was already beaten up from the previous fight. Going into a full sprint towards the jeep, Nero would call out to Trojia. "Jock, start the engine!" Not having time to chuckle at his own reference, Nero would hop into the jeep, hearing the sweet sound of the engine starting. Watching the men that had been chasing them appearing to look farther and farther away, Nero would clap a hand on Trojia's shoulder, smiling ear to ear. "Hey, look at that, something kind of went our way. Wait, there's no bomb on the car or something, right?!" Laughing a bit, Trojia would pat the passenger seat, signally Nero to sit there. "Relax kid, we're clean. I checked us out before we left. Now tell me, how long have you been waiting to use that line?"Plopping down in the front seat, Nero would scratch the back of his head. "I'd, uh, I'd rather not say, Troy. Just know it's been a while." Taking the rest of the ride home quietly, the duo would arrive at Agrabah in the early hours of the morning, making the walk back to their hotel a rather uneventful one. Finally climbing the stairs to his room. Nero would throw open the door to his room, looking exhausted. Though, no matter how tired he was, the boy would never not greet his best buddy. Kneeling down and extending his arms out, Nero would feel his mutt come slamming into his arms. Giving the dog a hug and petting him a bit, Nero would point towards the door. "Alright, geez! I missed you too, now calm down. I found Trojia, Koj, go see for yourself." Even though Koji and Trojia didn't necessarily get along, the dog's eyes would still light up as he rushed outside to see his friends. Trojia could be heard laughing a bit down the hall soon after Koji went running out of the door, leaving Nero to believe the two must have slightly missed each other. Looking over at JeY, Nero would set the bag of treasures on the desk in his room, then sit down on his bed. He assumed the man had gotten the vase, so he wouldn't even bother asking the question. "So, about Cheri..." The boy would take a deep breathe before continuing. "I'm not sure what the best course of action to take with her would be. Having someone always ready for some fun and being loaded, I'm a bit conflicted here." Nero would sound a bit light-hearted, trying to dodge the seriousness of the issue. Honestly, the boy wasn't entirely sure how he wanted to handle her, as he truly did like her, in some weird way. She was a weirdo and a bit off, but deep down, Nero was a little sweet on her. Even sending JeY alone with the boy was meant as a nice gesture, despite it backfiring in such a way. This was definitely quite the conundrum.
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