Prey: A Character Driven RP [FINISHED]

[JoJo]

Maya understood a few odd words that Lily had just spoken but there were too many unknowns for her to grasp what she was actually saying. Most of the others looked as confused as she did. She turned to Dr. Strauss to ask him what she meant but saw him studying a folded piece of paper in his hands.

Dear Jared,

Please do not alarmed, with a little palm-greasing I was able to get a waiter to add this to your order. Despite you and your companion's slight diversion from the mission, I have managed to obtain Excalibur back from the demons, and I will still be willing to bring back your family if you are able to meet me in the next couple of minutes out of the back of this cafe. While the disposal of Lily would be greatly appreciated, prioritise getting to me as I've set up a nice little distraction for her that even her demonic powers will find difficult to counter. I need some specials to assist me in the next stage of mine and Merlin's plan so I hope you understand that bringing Alec, Blackrose and young Maya is mandatory if you ever want to hold your daughters again.

Regards,

Rin​

~​

Rin rolled away from Excalibur clutching her face, however Gabriel's hit hadn't been hard enough to stop her completely and within a moment she was back on her feet. The woman left for the sword and this time managed to clutch onto its hilt with a triumphant cry.

"Finally!"

In an instant she had vanished with the blade in her arms, leaving Gabriel, Zetta and Maurice alone in the house again.

 

[DktrAgonizer]

Zetta remained crouched by her uncle's side, still trying desperately to think of a better way of distracting Rin when the woman grabbed Excalibur and vanished. "Oh, shit. Did she just...?" Zetta pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. With the legendary sword back in Rin's grasp, things would be a lot more dangerous for them. She briefly wondered if there was a way to take the sword back again, but decided that it wasn't the best time to do so.

"We have to find the others," Zetta told Gabriel as she got to her feet. "Rin mentioned setting up a trap for them." She paused to look down at Maurice, who was still slumped against the wall and unconscious. "He'll be fine, I think. Plus, I... have the feeling he won't want to see any of us after all of this."

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dr. Strauss paled as he read the note. Then he looked down at Maya. Then back at the note. Then he stared at Maya again for several minutes. Finally, he sighed and swore under his breath.

"I have no choice," he muttered to himself, hating himself already as he addressed Maya, "Umm... Maya... would you like to meet my daughters? I'll need your help for that..."


Dr. Strauss silently cursed Rin's name.

 

[JoJo]

"I can really meet them? Yes please!"

Maya clapped her hands together excitedly and grinned up at Dr. Strauss, she couldn't wait to meet some other children after the fun she had with Take... she paused and then pushed those images in her mind away, the still recent memory of her brief first friendship felt too painful to think about right then. Her thoughts quickly returned to the prospect of new playmates.

"Are we going there now? Lily and Zetta and Gabriel are going to come too aren't they?"

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Yes... we can go right now..." Dr. Strauss said, "But... it should just be you and me and Blackrose for now... better make sure its okay for the others to come first."

Dr. Strauss got out of his chair, and without thinking, he offered a thoroughly gloved hand to Maya while he shot a piteously imploring look at Blackrose while thinking very hard about his family.

 

[JoJo]

"Oh... alright..." Maya replied doubtfully as she took Dr. Strauss's hand. She felt a little uneasy about leaving behind her new companions with a stranger she had just met, but the prospect of meeting those with a similar age to her was too exciting to resist. She turned to Lily to enthusiastically tell her the plan.

"Lily, I'm going with Jared so I can play with his children. He said you can come later, if you want. I really promise I won't get hurt or anything and I'll be good all the time."

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dr. Strauss slowly led Maya out of the cafe. Once he was sure they were out of earshot of the others, he knelt in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I promised an explanation for you Maya and..." Dr. Strauss's eyes watered, his brow furrowed downward, "My wife Mary... and my daughters... they're all dead. It..." tears welled up in his eyes, "it was my fault. My powers... my 'magic'... it makes people very sick if they touch my skin... which is why I wear these gloves and this mask... to keep people safe from me," he fought to keep the tears from falling, "There is a way that I could see my family again... and that you could meet them too. For that... I need someone's help..." he sighed, "I need Rin's help. She can travel back in time... she can save my family."

He couldn't take it anymore; the tears started to stream down his face.

"I don't trust Rin... but I still need her help. I had hoped she just wanted that sword but..." Dr. Strauss showed Rin's note to Maya, "She wants me to bring you to her as well. I really, really don't want to. But I have to. I promise you though... I will NOT let Rin make you do anything you don't want to. I will NOT let Rin be in the same room with you unless I'm there with you too. I WON'T let her harm you in any way. I won't. I... I am so sorry."

 

[i don't know]

Alec glanced between Lily and Blackrose unsurely, hurriedly finishing his coffee.

"Um you sure about letting him take Maya like that?"

He then dashed out of the cafe after the pair, catching Dr. Strauss by the shoulder.

"Wait for me, where are you going? We've still got to get the sword for Rin or else I won't get paid and you won't get your family back, remember?"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dr. Strauss cursed at himself under his breath for his stupidity. He had forgotten about the others. He gave another, deeply felt apology to Maya, and handed Rin's note to Alec.

"I don't want to do this," he said, "I don't have a choice."

He knelt in front of Maya again and held her shoulders gently.

"I am so sorry," he kept repeating to her.

 

[i don't know]

Alec took the note and almost completely forgot about the loudly beeping device in his chest. He read the note with shock. Pure anger flooded his mind once more.

"STRAUSS! She's not to be trusted! If she has Excalibur, she might kill us! I think I know where she's going with this. Since your daughters are dead, she'll kill you to bring you closer to them. She'll kill us all Strauss!"

Alec ran over to Maya.

"I'm sorry but I can't let him take you to this one awfully shady person. I have instructions from Hui to make sure you don't get harmed and are taken care of, letting you go meet possibly the most dangerous person on earth would end up being pretty stupid on my part. You're not going anywhere near Rin."

 

[JoJo]

"Your... your children are dead?" Maya said slowly, looking confused and a little frightened "but I... I don't like Rin... I don't want to go to her..."

It was then that Alec arrived from the cafe breathing heavily, he spoke quickly to Dr. Strauss who handed him the scrap of paper she had seen him read a minute earlier. The American began to look angry and then spoke to her.

"I said I don't... Hui?" That was a name which the little girl didn't use herself but she recognised very well. She gasped aloud and for a moment forgot the situation at hand as an uplifting feeling spread through her "You've met my mummy? Where is she?!"

~​

Meanwhile back in Maurice's house all was quiet, until without warning a deep and throaty voice that appeared to have no source filled the room. Zetta and Gabriel could both hear it, though even if the uncle had been conscious he wouldn't have been aware of what seemed to the pair a booming sound.

"Hmm... it appears the foul woman has finally left. My enemy's enemy is my friend, yes? I sense two magical people below me, speak now if you can hear what I say."

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Maya," he said to her simply, "I really don't want to, but I have to. Its the only chance I have left of ever seeing them again... of anyone ever seeing them again. I promise you, I will not let Rin hurt you, I will not let her harm you in any way."

Dr. Strauss stood again and faced Alec.

"Alec," he said with a sudden hardness to his voice, "Do you take me for a fool? Of course I know Rin can't be trusted. But whether or not I trust her is irrelevant. I. Have. No. Choice. I have to do this. This is the only hope I have left. This is the only way I can ever hope to make up for what I did," Dr. Strauss clenched his fists, "Do no harm, was the oath I took when I became a physician. Do. No. Harm. My very existence now breaks that oath! Anyone who touches my skin dies! I can kill just by brushing against someone, shaking their hand... with a hug. Just one wrong move on my part, one mistake, and I add another death to my conscience. I am a Doctor and a living biological weapon... no... not even that. I have no control over this... infection."

Dr. Strauss sunk to his knees again.

"I..." he said desperately, sadly, "I truly have no choice in the matter now. Don't you get it? As slim as this hope is... its all I have. My wife... my daughters... my beautiful daughters... are all dead because of me! Because I did not figure out in time how my patients had died. Because I failed to consider that I might have been the problem. I have spent the last four years trying to rid myself of this "gift"." Strauss uttered that last word with all the familiar contempt of passing a kidney stone.

"This isn't just about saving my family," he said, "If Rin really can go back in time... there's a chance I could save all of my patient's lives as well. All those families I shattered... the lives I ended! Do no harm, was the oath I took. If Rin truly can deliver on her promise... then I can finally undo a great deal of harm that I am responsible for. There are so many lives I could save... but... if you truly don't think that's worth the risk. Then help me find a cure... so that I may finally die without having to worry about my ashes spreading my pestilence any further."

 

[SamuelT]

Gabriel looked with a vacant stare at the small incision in the hardwooden floor. He'd felt a rush, a gleeful abandon when near the sword, and using it had been more fun than should've been allowed. Now that it had been taken from him, reality seemed duller, less bright, than it had been. Zetta said something, but it was as if she were on another planet.

His lethargy was cut short when a voice that reverberated in his chest asked who could hear them. He looked at Zetta, unsure if this was just another voice, or something else.

"I hear you." He said quietly.

 

[DktrAgonizer]

Zetta was hanging out in the kitchen's doorway, impatiently waiting for Gabriel to follow her. She suspected that he hadn't even heard her and was about to yell to get his attention when she heard the voice.

"Hmm... it appears the foul woman has finally left. My enemy's enemy is my friend, yes? I sense two magical people below me, speak now if you can hear what I say."

"Woah, what?" Zetta's head snapped around as she tried to find the owner of the voice. It sounded as if it came from all around them, and yet not, at the same time. She glanced over at Gabriel and saw him react. Zetta narrowed her eyes and since she wasn't sure where to look, trained her eyes on the ceiling. "I hear you, too. Who are you? And make it quick, please; we really have to find our friends."

 

[Cap'n Ninja]

Lily punched Strauss hard across the jaw, having established a telekinetic second skin over her own to protect herself from Strauss' plague carrying abilities. "What did you just say?" she demanded "Did you just say you don't have a choice? There is always a choice, and one of those choices does not involve giving an innocent to someone you know will screw them over" Lily spat, disgusted with Strauss' actions. "If Rin has promised you anything, then it will work out far better than her than it will for you. She will either use you to further her own goals by using you as a weapon, or try to extort you some other way." she held out a hand to Maya "Sweetie, you don't have to go with him if you don't want to." she said, her voice sweet as honey, her eyes smiling except the momentary glare she shot at Strauss. "Now if you want, we could try to have some kind of plan, or I could take Maya here and take away any chance of sorting out your family troubles."

 

[JoJo]

Though Maya didn't want to make Dr. Strauss even more upset, she really didn't want to go back to Rin again either. Since Lily's plan seemed less scary she took her hand unsurely whilst still looking pleadingly at Alec hoping he would tell her more about her mother. She was used to being with one parent who always knew best, several apparently nice adults who all had different intentions for her was confusing. Though she wasn't consciously aware of it, the small girl was trembling a little.

~​

After a moment's pause the voice returned.

"The closest a human tongue could produce to my name is Y Ddraig Goch, I would come closer but I'm too large to land on this house. Incidentally from up here I can see your friends by some sort of dwelling to the east and the woman Rin as she calls herself now is there too, though they don't realise it yet. I would help them, but then she'll realise I'm here and that wouldn't be good. You might want to get there quickly, though it might be too late for you to avoid those uniformed humans I see approaching this house. Perhaps I should have mentioned that first?"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dr. Strauss fell face-first onto the grass and lay there for several moments without moving. He wondered to himself if it would just be easier to end it now. It probably would but... he had no way of knowing if the disease would truly end with his life. After a few moments he stood up again and looked at Lily.

"I've had that coming for a long time," he said without any trace of emotion in his voice or expression, "What do you suggest then? How do you pull one over on someone who can travel through time?"

 

[LunaSocks]

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry for not posting, as soon as I had sat down to start typing a post, I'd been interrupted and had to leave the computer for a few hours. I promised JoJo a post last night, but my laptop's battery died in the middle of it, and I didn't have my charging cord. I have it now, but not enough time to get the kind of post I'd like to make done. This'll have to do for now, unfortunately.

As soon as Strauss had left with Maya, Blackrose had been searching through his mind, looking for what caused him to leave suddenly, and what she found, she didn't like. She saw a note, from Rin, telling him to bring Maya with him, and to get rid of Lily, who'd just gone out to get to Strauss. The main thing that worried her was the images of Strauss's dead family that kept coming, showing her that he'd been lying to Maya. Blackrose immediately knew she had to get out there, rushing to get to the group, dropping her cigarette and knocking the food and drinks to the ground.

As she rushed outside, she saw Lily knocking Strauss to the ground, and rushed over. As she came up, she heard Strauss asking a question. "How do you pull one over on someone who can travel through time?" He said.

"Well, to stop them from coming back through time, wouldn't you just have to kill the original?" She said, pulling Lily close to her so she could whisper in her ear. "Hey, you might want to get out of here soon, I think Rin might be trying to kill you." She whispered.

 

[i don't know]

Alec had the most retarded expression on his face when Maya said that this dead lady was her mother. What was he supposed to say? Lie, or upset the girl with truth? He chose a little bit of both.

"I'm so sorry. Your mother...she's severely sick. She said that she wanted me to look after you if she doesn't make it. She's still in China but she's being looked after by a great hospital. They say that she might make it but she also might not. I think it would be best if we just try to get somewhere safe for now. Let's go back to your house instead of following Strauss, [small][small]he's disturbed [/small][/small]. "

 

[Cap'n Ninja]

"I suggest we find her and kill her before she can do anything to us, but that hinders your chances of... Retrieving your family, so we may want to evaluate as much as possible, make a logical plan and do the opposite. Rin can predict the future, and plans for every eventuality she can, so by choosing the least likely options, we have a better chance of catching her off guard" Lily said, pausing as Blackrose whispered in her ear.
"Hey, you might want to get out of here soon, I think Rin might be trying to kill you." She stopped for a moment, and let out a laugh that was bordering on hysterical.
"Do you remember what she sent you to my friend's uncle's house with the intention of doing?" she asked "Getting the sword and killing anyone who stood in your way." Lily clarified, turning back to Strauss "Now, what she won't be expecting, is an alliance between us. So I figure that gives us our best shot. Now I can hang back while you sort out your family troubles, but the moment something goes wrong, I'm stepping in."