Water's Grace

[Arthien]

Lily raised an eyebrow at Jack, unsure of how she should answer. She watched silently while this man told her baby to put herself in danger, and she could say nothing at all. Gabby simply nodded as Jack spoke to her and explained the "game" to her. Then, when the duct had been opened and Jack said "Go!", Gabby hugged her mother's leg and ran into the hole in the wall. Lily just stared as her baby left. She only moved when Rod came and pulled her away by the elbow, and even then, Lily's eyes remained trained on the spot where her child, the only thing she had left in the world, crawled away. "Come back to me, baby," she finally whispered. "Come back."  

[Joa-Boo]

((so the idea is Jerkan gets the girl and takes her Adam to get the plasmid right???))

Jerkan sprinted with the girl twisted around his arm. He didn't care really what pain he put her through and would actually toss her through rooms before he moved into them. The little girl cried out and screamed but just before she would get to the peak of her loud cries he would kick her and be off along another hall.

By this time Jerkan had made it through his little hiding hole and back across the hall that he started in. The music in his head still blared happy screams. It was a magical moment for this couple.

"You ready for a husband little girl. Cause I think we could have plenty of beautiful children." Jerkan said lifting the little girl by the hair up to his face. His breath was raunchy and sick, bugs crawling out of his teach. Then he tripped over a rock and spun under his own weight. He slammed into the wall and crushed the little girl. She yelled out in pain from beneath the splicer so he smacked her to shut her up.

"Here comes the bride, here comes the bride. Ready and waiting to be eaten out her side." Jerkan began to sing and opened the clean flesh of the little girl by lifting her small dress.
"You look so tasty. How should I cook you."  

[Kite240936]

(( I have no idea where to go with this, but hey. Whatever. XXD))

Kite crawled through the pipes, looking at the marks of where the spider splicers had ripped through the pipes, sliding their near molten metal spikes and hooks, looking...searching...but for what? His answer came from a torn hole in the pipe, where he looked down and saw exactly what he needed - weapons...

He did a quick check to make sure his barrell on his M56K was screwed on, and jumped down. His senses failed him however, and he hit the ground and sprawled out. The fall knocked the wind out of him, and he felt something burning stab him in the back. A scream erupted from his lips, and the hot spike ripped out of him - it tore nothing but flesh, but still hurt.

Kite rolled onto his back, and shot the spider splicer in the face, blowing his head clear off his body and spraying the walls with blood. From the corner of his eye, Kite could see a healing machine, but he also heard other splicers...

What to do... heal, or kill? His answer came while he was still laying on his back, when three splicers ran down the hall in front of him. One shot of buckshot was sufficient enough to take down the front two, and the last one's face was half blown off by the spread, but he still stood, jaw ripped open, shocked at not knowing what to do.

By that time Kite had pumped another round into the chamber, and ended the splicer's life quickly.

I need ammo... I'm running low.

To his left was a vending machine - his right was the healer. What would he do...

he chose the vending machine first, using his wire cutters to snip the power cord. Doing so caused an alarm to sound, which attracted security bots, but Kite knew what to do.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw out a hand warmer he had obtained from the splicer he killed earlier. This confused the security bots, which gave Kite enough time to toss out a frag. The alarm subsided after a minute, and All the bots were down. He pried open the machine and took the ammunition he needed.

***********

On his way to the healer, he noted a few tommy guns, and some spare metal that was piled next to a door. Using the guns and metal he could....

Suddenly, he got the idea, and made a mental note to create what he thought after healing. He hoped he could get back to Jack and the gang soon... and he hoped he could help them with this new idea.  

[SkittleScion]

Rod slid to a broken and smoldering crate, shoulder against it as he checked the carbine for jams. It was fine. He felt Lily behind him, shivering in silence. He felt sorry for her, but he couldn't afford to waste any time on her at the moment. He leaned out of the corner as random bullets riddled on the floor near him. Inaccurate, but dangerous. I waited for the splicer to stop. He let out a cry like a ravaging bird as he fired into the air. Rod leaned out again, lining up his shot. He fired a well placed shot into his jaw as he fell, rigor mortis shaking his body to a plank. He fell hard as Rod slipped back behind cover, reloaded a shell.

"We have to hold here until Jack gets back. You with me?" he looked at Lily with a serious face, ready to kill.  

[Joa-Boo]

Jerkan tossed the girl to a near by table and clipped her dress down to the table with one of his sickle picks. His face got real close to the struggling girl and let lose another crazy maniacal laugh. The laughter filled the small kitchen room and boomed around. Near by sounds began moving about. It was the sound of a group of splicers, many, at least 6. In an act of desperation Jerkan took a hold of the little girls leg and cut her lose of the table, ripping off her dress and slid under a cabinet where he began clawing away at the wall behind to brake through.

The noise got closer and closer as the seconds counted down. They yelled things like Adam party and one for all and all for one. Their voice cracking against the sensitive and likely crazy ears of Jerkan. His sense began to block out as his body filled with adrenalin. Everything blurred and all he could do was claw away like a machine.

The splicers finally made it to the room. They entered by braking down the door and ran in with their guns and pipes pointed outward and ready for anything. Jerkan at the last moment, through fear of losing his prize, cut into the girl finally and ripping out the vital organs that made her up and connected to an ugly slug like being. Jerkan then slid open the slug and ingested the raw stem cells that made up the creature. The slug was very full and hard for him to keep down.

Blood and other parts of the slug shot from Jerkan's mouth as he shot from his cover under the cabinet and began puking. It just so happened that his body was so overwhelmed with the power of the slug that it just couldn't hold and he ended up throwing up all over a dead Big daddy's body.

All of the splicers at once turned their attention to Jerkan who was still puking mounds of blood and other colorful things as his molecules rearranged. They moved in on him and one with a long pipe beat him over the back. They kept their guns close to his head as he fell to the ground.

"This little sucker just ate all the Adam....oh your going to get it now puppet. Your nothing but a wet fish who's sprung from the water and can't get back. Your Adam is as good as ours." One of the splicers with a long rifle said and kicked out Jerkin’s feet from beneath him.

Suddenly a green like ball lifted and hit against a wall. the ball came from a place in Jercan's hand and it let out a massive scream that mimicked that of a little sister. Seconds latter a massive big daddy broke through the wall and one after the other tore the splicers together.  

[Arthien]

Lily nodded, still speechless. She didn't look at Rod. She could see, but not well. Nothing registered yet. She mouthed "Come back," over and over, like a silent mantra. Lily rocked slightly back and forth on her heels. She felt broken.

A pistol was shoved into Lily's grasp, shaking her from half-conciousness to full. Rod looked her in the eye. "I said, are you with me?" he spoke, articulating each word. "Yes," Lily replied with a crack in her voice. Then, she mechanically began checking the pistol, seeing if it was loaded and if anything might be wrong with it. It was perfect. That's it, she thought. Keep your mind occupied. She'll be back soon. "So, we wait here?" she asked, finally seeing again.

((sorry for the god mod, it was necessary. oh, and rigor doesn't set in until at least 12 hours later, btw. razz ))  

[Zedo_Saeron]

"******** roared as he rounded the corner in time to see the Splicer swallow the slug. He repeated this word again and again as the scene unfolded before him. "oohh..but you're nextt.. bait!" A Splicer near Jack exclaimed.

Without any thought, Jack snapped his left hand at the man who burst into flames. With the same fire-hand, Jack picked up the Splicer who screamed madly in pain; and tossed him into a bright red barrel.

Just as Jack thought. BOOM!

The barrel exploded in a shower of danger and fire, and all the Splicers in the room were sent fatally flying. Except the unusual one. It clung to its life with an inhuman rampage. Jack ran to the creature and yelled, "THIS IS WHAT THE ******** YOU GET! SHE WAS INNOCENT!" And with that he threw the Splicer down and trained his pistol between the thing's eyes just as...

A deep, rumbling, roar.

"s**t." Jack breathed. The thundering boots drew close. And from the opposite end of the room, a Rosie Big Daddy stepped into view, rumbling angrly. It stared at the two, then in a sudden rage tossed a grenade at Jack. He let a cry of surprise loose, and ran for the hall he had come from.

I need the others!

So he ran. He ran and ran back to the sight of Rod and Lily making a stand aginst some straggling Splicers. Taking them all by surprise, Jack rounded the corner and lit two on fire. The screeched madly, then fell dead. A bullet to the skull took care of two more as Jack pushed down the hall.

"ROD! LILY! I'M GOING TO NEED HELP! MAKE A PUSH FOR THE KITCHEN! I'LL GET GABBY! GO!"

And he ran past them, gun spraying blindly behind him as he ran to the duct Gabby had so bravely ventured into.  

[SkittleScion]

Rod grabbed Lily's wrist, carbine hanging low as he sprinted to the corner of the next hall. He peeked around the corner, only to see the ringleading splicer being followed by a Big Daddy packing a very serious gun.

"s**t," he whispered. Thinking fast, he pushed Lily away.
"You got that pistol? Back up. I need room to move."

Rod spun around the corner, hefted up the carbine as Lily scrambled away.

"Ey! Big Ugly! Come and get some!" he screamed, firing into the two. Time seemed to crawl to a slow with all the energy seeping in around him. He fired some more, dodging and ducking with the rythm of the combat. Suddenly, he heard a strange scream.

"Ka ka ka...Kite?" he cocked an eyebrow as the man sprinted down the hallway carrying a beast of a gun. Lily shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

The engineer slid to a stop next to Rod. They both took up cover on either side of the hall as the Big Daddy tossed smoke grenades and the splicer cackled in glee.

"What the hell is that thing?" Rod questioned as the smoke slithered ever closer to them. He reloaded the carbine, ready to back up Kite.  

[Kite240936]

"It's the new attatchment for the M56K! And actually for all shotguns, but I made it for mine for now. I have spares in my backpack." He yelled as he pulled both triggers, one on the pump of the shotgun and another on the shotgun itself. The pump of the shotty had a tommy gun's barrel, firing mechanism, trigger, and clip, along with the handle which created a pistol grip to pump the shotty faster. Automatic fire and a giant slug pounded into the big daddy as Rod's carbine rounds tore into the splicer.

The slug hit a gas container on the big daddy which shattered part of his armor, leaving him vunerable to the automatic fire. His shoulder plating ripped off with the fire as well, and in moments, his grenade arm was no longer functioning. The beast then decided to give it all. With all it's strength, the Daddy threw himself forwards. Kite aimed, pumped, and a slug tore straight through the glass on the diver mask. Blood oozed out of the helmet, and the being toppled forward, in which Kite dove backwards, ramming Rod, ((no pun intended)) in which caused him to topple as well and fire a shot into the oncoming Splicer's head, spraying color onto the walls.

"Sorry, man." Kite said as he helped Rod up, noticing the lack of enemies, but a good amount of carnage. The odor of metallic blood seeped into Kite's nostrils, and he squinted, shaking his head.

He turned to Rod, and looked at his gun. "Ooooh...can I upgrade your gun for you? I can do alot with that." he said as he reloaded shells and a drum clip into the M56k.  

[Joa-Boo]

Jerkan giggled in a coughing mess. Blood and other thick liquid was still dripping down the sides of his mouth and trailed along the thick mutated lines of his face. He wiped himself clean, really only spreading around himself and lifted his hurt body to the wall which he used to brace himself up

As Jerkan turned his face caught site first of the bloody rage broken all along the walls, this brought a smile, but as his eyes traveled the room it came to face the big daddy huddled in the center with his body pulsing with power.

"No, don't kill me. The little girl, uhh, they made me do it, said it would be funny." Jerkan lied at the beast as he cringed away in fear. His hands waved through the air as if convincing the big daddy further he had nothing to do with the bits and pieces of the little girl all about the floor.

The big daddy did nothing at this sad display of sincerity and just continued to watch with his glazed over divers mask and blood covered figure. To Jerkan’s amazement, he was still alive, and above that, not even hurt. He took a double look at the creature heavily breathing over him and stood straight for a better observation. Jerkan playing, pointed to the wall to his left and made a fist as if crushing it. He wasn’t stupid, he knew about the slug and how it worked with all the stem cells. After spilling the slugs cells all over the dead big daddy might of given it some sort of control for the harvester over the thing. Just as he assumed the big daddy did what was unspoken but still all the same commanded and broke through the wall with his mighty force. The wall tore into small parts and with another bash of it’s long drill, bashed the wall again until it was a gaping whole into the halls that shot around this part of rapture like a maze.

“What have we here,” Jerkan almost said in a new voice. His breath was heavy but all together he felt lifted, as if this new power would bring him to a lot of new opportunities. Then remembering another side affect of the powerful atom gene, Jerkan made for something reflective. He found what he was looking for against the corner of the opposite wall the Big daddy broke and gazed into a shattered mirror. Although it was a cut image Jerkan noticed his deformed self to shape as it was before he was ever introduced to the cancerous need. His face seemed restored and for once in a long time, he didn’t feel like putting on his mask again.

His face was a deep tan with a long muscular shape. His eyes that where left half hidden under a dark silky black line of hair surfed the rest of the room in a black color. Not entirely solid black, but enough brown that it seemed that way. Everything about his body seemed restored, that is except his mind and psychological side. The damage there was permanent.

“Let’s go…..hahaha…Mr. Bubbles,” Jerkan said with a laugh and strolled out of the room holding his pistol in one hand and the other carefully attached to the green like ball of screaming terror. “We have work and gloating to do. I bet some of your friends have little pests that I could enjoy for a date.”  

[Zedo_Saeron]

Jack almost fell as he ran back into the room they had left Gabby off in. She still hadn't come back. Maybe that was good? Frantically, Jack hammered on the wall above the grate she had crawled through. "Gabby! Gabby! T-the game's over now! We win! Come on out! It's okay!"

Seconds crawled by impossibly slow. No sound. Not an "Okay" or a giggle or a sniff. Nothing. Jack began to pound furiously on the wall again...

"Why you so loud? Shhh... They hears us." Gabby said putting a small finger to her lips in the most adorable way. Jack smiled weakly at the wonderful girl, then swept her up in his arms and said, "Oh thank god your okay! I'm so happy to see you!"

Gabby's next words his Jack with reality harder than any Big Daddy could.

"Why? You not da da."

"Well... no I'm not but I still care about you."

"Mommy says that the only ones I can trust are the people who love me. And only her and da da love me."

She slipped from his arms and ran to the wall by the doorway. "Are the bad men out there?"

"No, they're gone for now."

She held out her hand and defiantly said, "Then lets go."

Jack took her tiny hand and walked her down the hall until the sound of gunfire intensified. They had crawled back into the hideaway and were now standing at the mouth of the hole blown into their "kitchen" wall. "Gabby, would you please hide in there?" Jack asked as sweetly was he could manage.

She nodded enthusiastically then said, "Yep! I good at hiding!"

"Thank god," Jack mumbled, running through the open space towards the sound of guns. The man from before had rejoined the others. "John! It's good to see you! Thank god you're not dead or crazy!" Jack took a moment to admire the man's new weapon as well. It looked deadly.

The Strange Splicer from before had got away, but the Big Daddy remained. Jack swore loudly as a grenade rolled near the party. Almost as one, the group back down the hall slightly, waited for the explosion, then pushed forward again; firing. Their current tactics of shooting head on were getting them no where and Jack was getting frustrated. "Rod! Lily! Distract him!" Jack roared.

As the two complied, he ran to the thing. Well, past it. Turning on his heels he called again, "JOHN! TOSS ME THAT GUN!" John threw the weapon at Jack best he could. The Big Daddy stepped to the side to dodge it. Just as Jack hoped. As the weapon clattered to the floor Jack swept it up, turned to aim at the tanks on the Rosie's back, and fired as it turned around. Each one of the lights on its helmet went out at once. It didn't even roar as it fell to the ground.

Jack fell into a sitting position, breathing heavily. Rod, John, and Lily who was now joined back with Gabby did like wise; sitting in various places about the room. Sweat fell from Jack's brow like rain. His thoughts were a jumble of guns screams and yells from the skirmish that had just taken place, and he was exhausted. He looked at each of his companions in turn. It hurt him to think there would be more hell to endure. "I think we have to move. The life Rod and I had of sitting here safely was nice, but it can't continue. We have to move. We have to get out... if we can. Any ideas?"  

[Joa-Boo]

"I have one," A voice said moving into the room with graceful and proper movements. He blushed at interrupting the conversation but all at the same time was relived to make himself known.

"I'm sorry if I am imposing but I have good intentions on making myself a useful additive to the team. It hasn't been appropriate until now I make my presence more then transparent because I was only seeming to observe before acting. It is my nature to think things through before jumping into something hat may hurt me along down the future. Rapture has taught me that at least."

The man was a tall slender noble man. He dressed well as though the last thing he attended was a ball. His curly black hair hung loosely on top of his head and slightly obscured his left eye. His eyes where a full drown, so full that they made you feel as though you had been screaming all your life when they met your own.

"I have noticed a common trend in the sewer patterns moving out of Rapture and they seem to offer relief from these cold dark tunnels. I do believe from my calculations that if we can find the proper blue prints to these tunnels that they will lead a rather easy flee. I have only to look for assistance or I would have done this long before now. Please excuse my delay but I really think you should look into this proposition."

The man stood at the door way and unusually looked unarmed. There was a very innocent ora about the man as he rocked back and forth with his words as if preaching.

"What do you say?"  

[SkittleScion]

Rod's normally stoic style of combat was replaced by rage. He stood blazingly fast, darting at the man. He jumped up, tackling him to the ground. The carbine's muzzle was pressed against his neck when the man was able to understand what had just happened to him.

"I think you need to tell us just who the f*** you are, and what kinda crap you're trying to pull. We jus...still are fighting a horde of splicers, and you have the balls to show up and try and play the savior. Well I don't buy it. Give me a reason not to kill you, a**!"

Rod's speech was quick and passionate, he was moving on rage, instinct, adrenalin and lack of sleep.  

[Zedo_Saeron]

Jack had never seen his best friend move so fast, or so passionately he thought. Rod was thinking the exact same thing as Jack. This man couldn't have been good. Not even Andrew Ryan, Fontaine, or Atlus could move about Rapture anymore without a loaded pistol. There was something strange about this man Jack didn't trust, and when it got down to it; in Jack's now-black heart he would rather kill the man and investigate then end up with a knife or bullet in his head.

Suddenly Jack stopped mid-murderous thought in his head. Would he really kill this unarmed man for the sake of some girl he hardly knew, a killer, and a child who was probably scarred beyond belief?

Yes. Yes I would. They mean everything to me now. Well... them and Adam...

God I don't want the world to see me. Because... I don't think they'd understand. No, I know they wouldn't.

When everything is meant to be this broken...

I just want these people to know who I am.

Jack moved to flank Rod and aim his wonderfully crafter revolver at the Sharp-Dressed man's head.

"You have one sentence."

((By the way, that quote is true for all of you.))  

[Zedo_Saeron]

((That's right. New Character. Keeping it nice and Psychologically scary here on the Rapture-side.))
"If I didn't care..."

And I didn't. No, not crazy me. I'm the only ********! not crazy person here.

I never swear. I'm a very ********! good person. I'd never kill a woman for 5 dollars!

Th-then whose blood is this?! Oh god... did I...?

NO! SHUT UP! I"M GOOD NOW! NO MORE SWEARING!

But you I just... "God I'm so damn confused!"
SHUT THE ******** UP!! Nothing is wrong! I'm A GOOD PERSON! STOP ******** TALKING TO ME!

And the voice and that awful, insatiable hunger stopped. I looked at my hands. Covered in blood, still gripping a five dollar bill. Woman... lying on floor... dead...? I did Didn't I..? Oh god no! She was... one of my backup singers! Why is her throat missing... Oh god! Make it stop! PLEASE MAKE THIS HUNGER STOP! I'LL NEVER USE ADAM AGAIN JUST MAKE THE HUNGER STOP! I DON'T NEED IT ANYMORE FOR MY SINGING! I'M BEAUTIFUL AND SING GREAT AND...!

But what's that...? Mmm... I think I hear more women.

Hehehehe...!