Corrupture [IC]

[S121]

Nexxus - San Francisco

As Ethan chased the man towards the parking lot, Ethan began to lose his emotions as he thought about what he was doing. This is what he would do every day until he died, chasing criminals. Ethan realized that this man was his first mission, at least unofficially. Ethan didn't have any of the proper tools to his trade at the moment, but if need be, he could easily use his wits to stop his current enemy. To be honest, Ethan didn't know what would happen once he caught the thief, but if he knew one thing, it would be that he would learn from it.

After a couple of seconds, Ethan had converged on the thief's location, trapping him in the parking lot. As Ethan approached, he readied himself for a fight, just in case the thief was not intent on giving the purse back.

"You took something that doesn't belong to you. I recommend you give it back. You do so, and you walk away without a scratch.", Ethan said in a calm, emotionless tone as he stopped ten feet asway from the thief and held his hand out in front of him.

[WriggleRid3r]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

---

"I recommend you stay away from me," the thief said in between labored breath as a group of people dressed like thugs appeared from behind: all pretty young people, all different race: there were two Caucasians, one African American, one Latino and one Pacific Asian. Some of them had knife in their hands, and one of the Caucasian man had a Glock 19. Including the original thief there were six men with weapons to one without any ways for self-defense. "I don't want to take innocent lives."

"Ethan!" Alex appeared from the corner, breathing labored but not doubled over like the thief was. She had some stamina built into her. When she appeared, the thieves obvious found her to be extremely hot. One of them made a cat-call. "What's going on?"

"Holy shit, she is a babe." One of the thief gulped. Another one, smiling maliciously, broke the formation and began walking towards Alex.

[Kristia]

En route to club

Sara sighed as she saw the buildings changing from business style to more party like, yet she smiled a bit "Atleast the people still have that fire in their hearts to keep moving forward" she said without thinking

The blonde was glad that , aside from the many firefights and other crimes, the people still could live their lives. Sure there were warnings and everyone had to be alerted when something would happen, but the people still have the liberty to have happiness

[wonderweiss]

En Route to VLF

---

Johnathan had stared off into the rows of buildings.

"... Hey, Sara. You know our logo, correct? The man behind the wall?"

The logo was shown on their sleeves. It depicted a man with his two swords crossing in front of a big wall. There seemed to be a faint yellow glow slightly above the wall.

"Have you ever stopped and thought about why the logo looks like that? What it stood for?"

[Kristia]

En Route to VLF


"To be honest, I don´t know, remember im just a hired associate, not officially enrolled into DCERT" Kris spoke gesturing to the symbol on her back wich had a fox with a crosshair on it

"But what does it mean If I may ask?" the specialist asked Jonathan

[wonderweiss]

En Route to VLF

---

"Well," he started, "to begin with, the idea for the design was mine. The entire thing means 'protection in strong arms.' The man is in front of the wall, representing a guard-like figure. He holds two swords, representing our work ethic as twice the normal rate. Twice as strong. The glow emanating from the top of the wall represents civilization on the other side of the wall. Put together, the man is guarding the civilians on the other side of the wall, protecting it with twice as much as what he's got. That... Is what the DCERT stands for. That is, in a way, what we all stand for. To protect our loved ones on the other side with everything we've got and more."

He had looked at the emblem on Sara's back.

"... That's right. I almost forgot that. Considering that we fight for the same reason, to an extent, you can't blame me-"

"Chief," the cab driver interrupted, "sorry for interrupting but we've arrived at our destination."

[Kristia]

Outside FLV

"It´s allright sir, we do fight for similar goals, but yet there is the fact that someone can take his or her own side for own benefit, even in your group someone could take that path in a mere instant" Sara explained to Jonnathan

The blonde opened the cab´s door and looked at the place "You guys might have your eyes on me for the same reason since I have been a mercenary, but know that I have used my abilities for the good of the innocents, no matter of what side they are on this three sided war"

[S121]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

Ethan lightly tensed up when he saw the group of thugs, but as the purse-thief spoke, Ethan seemed to grow calmer and calmer, as if he was forgetting how dangerous his situation was, or as if he was in a haze. That, or that he didn't care anymore. As Ethan stared at all the thugs, there was only one thought passing through his mind: "does it really matter if I die?" Ethan didn't really know why, but seeing the man with the gun and the four others with the knives didn't arouse any fear, but then again, he didn't really care that he felt nothing. When Ethan thought about it, he should have died a long time ago. Everyone he cared about was dead, and he was left with nothing to lose. Him dying face down in a puddle of his own blood, in an alleyway of all places would probably be a service to him. These guys would actually be doing Ethan a favor. After a couple of seconds, Ethan looked at the thugs with a look of indifference, as if he didn't care that they were armed, but right as he was about to speak, he heard a voice behind him.

"Ethan!"

As soon as Ethan heard his name being called by that familiar voice, he turned around and looked over to the source of the voice in surprise. Alex had followed both him and the thief here! Ethan's brow suddenly furrowed as he came to the realization that she was in danger. As if by clockwork, Ethan's suspicions were confirmed when he heard the thugs catcall Alex. Ethan may not have originally cared whether or not he lived or died, but if Ethan died, then Alex would be at the mercy of these thugs. Ethan needed to act, he needed to keep Alex safe. Right as Ethan was about to turn back over to the thugs, he heard the sudden footsteps of one of the thugs sprinting towards him, no, at Alex. Just then, Ethan sharply inhaled as he spun around. He saw the thug sprinting straight for Alex, intent of attacking her. This was it. If Ethan didn't act now, then both he and Alex were doomed. Thinking quickly, Ethan gritted his teeth and jumped into the way of the thug before he passed Ethan. Right after that, Ethan grabbed the man by the throat and shoulder, turned to the side, and slammed the thug's head into the ground as hard as he could. The thug's head bounced off the cold, hard pavement as the hunting knife clattered against the ground.

[WriggleRid3r]

ACE hardware - San Francisco

---

The first thug didn't realize having impure thought about defiling a young girl will get you packing. The head smacked the asphalt floor and he laid there, head bleeding. He would be lucky if he made out alive.

The other thugs began moving out, trying to corner them. The original thief began running away, while the man with a gun decided to observe how the situation will unfold.

[S121]

ACE hardware - San Francisco

Right after dealing with the thug that was chasing after Alex, Ethan looked up at the other thugs in the group and saw that they were already moving out, ready to deal with him. Not only that, the gunman had a clear shot at him. Thinking quickly, Ethan snatched the hunting knife up from the ground with his left hand and tightly grabbed the unconscious thug by the front of his belt with his right, and hoisted the thug partially over his shoulder, turning him into some sort of crude shield. After that, Ethan yelled out at Alex as he ran towards the thug closest to her position.

"Get out of here Alex!", Ethan shouted as he approached the first thug.

[WriggleRid3r]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

---

"But-" Alex said, but her words were drawn out by the noises of the combat. It's only been an hour since Alex and Ethan shyly introduced each other: but Alex found a liking to him. He was handsome, but didn't have the arrogance that the handsome guys had. Instead, his eyes spoke wisdom and pain. And she wanted to help this man ease his pain. She looked around until she saw an abandoned multi-cell battery with two insulated copper wires coming out of anode and cathode. She reached towards the battery, curious at first, and tested it. It worked wonders; sending blue sparks clesrly visible. She smiled as she hoisted that giant battery on one hand, the wires on another, and ran to the battle.

One thug with huge feather jacket from North Face jumped on Ethan, blocking his vision and inhibiting his movement. Another one snuck behind the thug to make sure his weight sent Ethan buckling down. These movements were clearly well-coordinated like a military squad's. Yet another thug tried to dodge to the back of Ethan to get a stab in when-

BZZZZZZZZZT

The thug was paralyzed, toppling down on the ground. There stood behind him, watching his back, was Alex, holding a giant battery pack that looked like it weighed at least 60 pounds.

[S121]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

As the weight of the thugs became too much, Ethan fell to one knee to prevent himself from falling to his back. Right after doing this, Ethan stabbed deep into the foot of the thug pushing against him. Right after doing that, Ethan heard a loud buzzing sound from behind, prompting him to quickly look behind. To his surprise, there was a thug behind him, one that could have stabbed him. Not only that, Alex was in the fight as well. To be honest, Ethan didn't know whether to be grateful that she saved him, or fearful for the fact that she was now in the fight, one that could easily be the death of her. Either way, Ethan would be sure to talk with her about it afterward, if both of them made it out alive.

Right then, Ethan snapped his attention back over to the man he had stabbed, pulled the knife out, and quickly leaned the unconscious thug to the side, trying to knock the injured thug off balance. Once Ethan had an opening, he then stabbed at the other thug's knee.

[WriggleRid3r]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

---

Alex and Ethan inadvertantly worked as an unbeatable duo for the thugs. Alex ikmobilizing the surprise factor led Ethan to be able to commence his own counterattack. The thug with feather jacket was strewn off the direction, clutching his feet in pain. The one behind suffered a similar fate, rolling on the ground whimpering. The only one left was the gunman and the Asian thug, probably the two more problematic. The gunman had a Glock 19 fully loaded, and the Asian had the muscular tone that reminisced Bruce Lee.

The gunman fired, but not towards Ethan but towards Alex. Alex instinctively held that huge battery of hers up to block the bullet. She blocked two of the three shots fired, but the other one struck her in the stomach.

Alex's face went livid. She charged towards the gunman who, at the sight of Alex doing what even men couldn't do when they were shot, shot three more times in fear. They either missed or hit the battery she had, and by the time the gunman had to reload Alex was already in electrocution range. He was paralyzed immediately.

The Asian grunt charged in, weaponless, shooting a roundhouse kick to Ethan's face. He definitely had some degree of training in martial arts.

[S121]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

Right after dealing with the two thugs, Ethan heard a a gunshot, then another. Right at that moment, Ethan glanced over to Alex and saw that she had deflected both shots with the battery, but only a second later, she was hit in the stomach by a third shot. Ethan lightly gasped and twitched in fear for Alex, that she could be seriously injured, but all of a sudden, Alex charged the gunman. This scared the gunman, causing him to panic and miss every shot after that, and right as Alex electrocuted the man, Ethan was about to help her. Unfortunately, Ethan was cut short when he saw the last thug in his peripherals. Right as Ethan turned towards the thug, he saw him perform a roundhouse kick aimed for the side of his head. Acting on reflex, Ethan quickly pulled the knife upward and aimed the pointed part of the blade towards the man's shin, blocking a portion of the kick's force and stabbing him in the ankle at the same time. The kick hurt Ethan's hand and caused him to nearly hit himself in the face with the knife's handle, but he managed to keep himself steady.

[WriggleRid3r]

ACE hardware store - San Francisco

---

The asian thug screamed as he retracted his foot back. He had higher pain tolerance than others, as he kept on fighting even with a stab to his ankle. He chose a different strategy: instead of knocking his enemy down with one hit, he'll just wear the guy out. He ducked down, pulled his body back as to not get hit with a counter kick, and low-kicked Ethan's shins, sweeping his bloodied leg around.

Alex knelt on the ground, clutching her gunshot wound to slow down the bleeding. Gunfire from the now-immobilized gunman alerted the police, and a distant siren could be heard. The thief was nowhere in sight, but the purse was on the ground, abandoned.