(I WAS THINKING THAT SAME THING!!!! And someone not afraid to tell Kaz when he's being an a-hole. Very strong, outgoing personality. Stubborn enough to force her way into his heart)
"Well, let's go down there when they're done burning the place and find whoever's left," Kaz said, feeling sympathetic for Curtis.
Huh. I'm the one with no clue who he is, or how he got here, yet that guy's got it worse than me. Kaz awkwardly shuffled over and put a comforting hand on the guy's shoulder. Right then and there, he decided that the people who did this would pay. How he would go about doing this, he had no clue, but he would.
(I'm so excited to see where this goes, oh my god! I haven't been this pumped during a roleplay in forever)
((Honestly, this is going to be amazing. I'm super ecstatic about it, too!! :D sorry for my delay; I'm actually in bed right now. I'll probably try to respond in the morning, and if for some reason I don't, I definitely will tomorrow when I get home in the evening!^u^ I'm glad you're enjoying this as much as I am! Also half asleep rn so sorry for any errors grammatically or otherwise.
GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE. So is that a yes she should be a scientist?? XD))
It was a bit forced and short-lived, but Curtis offered a smile. He wasn't really expecting Kaz's awkward attempt at sympathy, but he appreciated it nonetheless. It had been a long time since anyone had even feigned being his friend, so even as small of a gesture as it was, it meant something.
"If anyone else survived, we have to try to find them. I don't know how long people can last trying to go at it solo. There are gangs like that all over the place."
(This post is a little sucky but I'll try to make up for that tomorrow XD goodnight!
(Yes, she should)
"So are all the gangs out here capable of tearing down a whole city in a few hours?" Kaz asked, pulling his hand back. "'Cause if that's so, we're screwed."
We should go down there now. They look like they're clearing out at this point.
(Sweet!)
Curtis shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "No, not usually. I've never seen a gang with so many powerful weapons. The walls of New Haven protected the city for years. The gangs are mostly just dangerous to weak cities, smaller gangs, or lone individuals like us." He glanced back to New Haven's smoking remains. "Usually, that is."
"This was probably planned for years, then," Kaz said, beginning to walk back towards the city. "Looks like rocket launchers, grenades, and countless small arms."
For some reason, the prospect of meeting of those gang members while searching for survivors didn't scare him in the least. It just didn't feel like a big threat.
"Whoa! Where are you going?" He rushed forward to catch up with Kaz, nearly tripping over a root protruding from the ground. "I don't think they've left yet– and you just said it yourself: they've got a lot of weapons far more powerful than anything we have." He motioned to the retractable bo staff on his back.
"That's why we gotta go in there," Kaz insisted. "If someone got hurt, we gotta go help. Five minutes, in and out."
He continued towards the city, a calm look on his face. We'll be fine, right? I doubt they would double back and search a place they'd already flattened. They're a gang, not an army.
How could Curtis argue with Kaz's reasoning? After all, he was all about helping people. Still though, something about the thought of heading towards a gang with an arsenal of military weapons at their disposal when all he had was his staff and a dagger on his belt really made him uncomfortable. Curtis kept up with Kaz's pace, staying right on his heels.
"You're right, but let's be careful. They'll gladly blow us to smithereens if they get the chance."
"You kept on saying a building fell on me," Kaz said, looking around the devastated city.
There was a string of gunshots and an explosion, Kaz stopped, keeping a sharp eye out for the gang.
"Which one was it?" he asked when the noise died down.
(Should I have Kaz get shot by a rocket so it reveals that he really is damn near invisible)
Curtis paused for a moment, looking around the now ruined city. Half an hour ago it had been perfectly intact. He carefully crept forward, climbing up onto a pile of rubble so that he could get a better view (while, keeping in mind not to be spotted by any possible gang members nearby). It was incredible, how quickly a whole city could fall– and how different it looked once fallen.
"Oh," was all Curtis could say as he looked around at the devastation. There were bodies everywhere, but the hardest ones to look at were the children…
"Over there," Curtis said quickly, mostly to distract himself. He couldn't look at the dead people any longer, couldn't think about them. He needed to focus on helping to find any possible survivors. "The building was over there." He pointed towards a massive pile of broken concrete and metal. "That's where I found you."
He walked over to the remains of the building, stepping over the bodies around it like nothing was there.
"Huh."
There was literally an indent in the ground the shape of his body in the concrete.
"Nah, no way," Kaz said, shaking his head and backing away. "No way that's m-"
BOOM! A huge explosion enveloped Kaz's body, causing him to disappear in a cloud of smoke and dust. The gang had returned after hearing the sound of voices. The person set the smoking rocket launcher aside and pulled out a knife, grinning evilly at Curtis. The man made a mistake by walking too close to the cloud the blast had kicked up, however. A hand shot out, so fast it was just a skin-colored blur, connecting squarely with the gang member's jaw. He went crashing into a pile of rubble, his jaw so dislocated it barely looked attached.
Curtis thought for sure that Kaz had been killed (or at least knocked out) by the rocket launcher, but maybe he shouldn't have been so certain, considering what he'd seen earlier. When the man began to approach him, he had mentally prepared himself to fight– but it proved to be unnecessary when Kaz took the guy out. Aside from the fact that his eyes widened considerably, Curtis didn't show much of a reaction, but internally he was just as amazed as he had been earlier when the building fell on Kaz. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned or in awe– or both.
"You're indestructible!" Curtis blurted out, excitedly stating the obvious.
Maybe he stated it a bit too loud, though, because all he did was attract more gang members.
(When should we cue the entrance of Kaz's potential love interest chic?)
Kaz stepped out of the cloud, his clothing pocketed with burn marks and still partially on fire. He had no time to worry about it, however, as about 20 members of the gang converged on their position.
"Get behind me," Kaz said, cracking his knuckles as dozens of guns were pointed at the two of them.
(Maybe she rolls up with, like, the entire security force of the lab and chases off the gang)
"Holy cow–"
Curtis didn't hesitate. He practically dove behind Kaz, ignoring how cowardly it may have seemed at the time. As far as he was concerned, it wasn't cowardly since Kaz apparently couldn't be killed by… well… anything, and Curtis could.
A couple of the men opened fire on Kaz, but obviously that didn't do much of anything. They seemed more irritated than amazed that their target hadn't been killed yet, and they weren't going to give up so easily.
What came next happened too quickly for Curtis to fully process. The sound of vehicles breaking through the forest drew nearer. Originally, Curtis thought that the gang was bringing more people, but when the men looked as confused as he felt, he questioned that assumption. The vehicles came into view, and they looked like something he would expect to belong to a military.
A powerful military.
They were armed vehicles, several of them mirroring what Curtis would imagine a tank combined with an all-terrain cargo truck would look like. His mind couldn't come up with any other way to describe them.
The gang's attention was diverted to the new arrivals– whoever they may have been– but the guns didn't damage the vehicles. One gang member dove for the rocket launcher, but not before a vehicle opened fire on him. Instead of being blown up or falling dead from a bullet, the man collapsed to the ground, screaming and convulsing like he had been electrocuted.
"What the heck is that?!" Curtis asked, although he didn't really expect Kaz to know the answer.
Armed men spilled out of the vehicles, with guns that were larger and more menacing-looking than the gang members weapons. The gang suddenly didn't seem so macho; a few fire fights started breaking out (proving that the newcomers guns had the same effect their vehicles did), but the majority of the gang fled for the woods.
Kaz turned around as the gunfights broke out, wide-eyed. He didn't go insane. I really am invincible.
"I….I thought you had just hit your head too hard or somethin'," he said in an awestruck voice. "But….."
He studied himself as he patted out the fires on his shirt. Not a single scratch on him. Nit even a bruise.
"Wha-….what am I?" he asked no one in particular.
(She should get really mad that he has a bruise on his face)
"Well, whatever you are, you're alive. We're both alive. And that's all that matters right now. But I think that we should get the heck out of here before something bad happens to us," Curtis said, somewhat frantically. "You know, before they decide to shoot us." He peered around Kaz's shoulder and pointed at what appeared to be woman approaching them.
"Make sure you don't shoot him," Eden said firmly over the intercom.
"Thought you said he was impossible to kill," one of her allies replied gruffly.
"Still, don't shoot him."
After struggling for some time to pinpoint his location, Eden Linari wasn't about to let a rag-tag gang fire rocket launchers at Kaz all day long– even if he was indestructible. She neither had the patience nor the time for that kind of nonsense.
So she had them obliterated.
Now, here she was, sprinting through one of the last fire fights as bullets grazed past her. Those that hit her armor merely deflected off, leaving her completely unscathed. Besides, most of the gang members had retreated by now; those that were left were dropping like flies. It really wasn't much of a fight, truth be told.
Finally, she spotted Kaz, standing near one of the many piles of rubble. "I've spotted him."
((Part of me wonders if she would initially think Curtis was a threat or an enemy, since she'd never seen him before. And he basically looks like a hobo so it wouldn't be far fetched to assume that he was working with a gang of some sort. XD ))
"No," Kaz said, turning back to the fights erupting. "They would've shot us already if that was the plan."
The woman looked….really familiar. She was speaking into the headset she had on her head and did not look very pleased to be walking through the ruined city. Bullets glanced off of her armor like they did off of his skin, making him wonder if that's what he was made of now.
"Do you know who at is?" he asked Curtis, raising an eyebrow.
(It's your call)
"I have no clue," Curtis responded, watching the woman as she came closer. She was slightly above average height for a woman, with auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail. Nope. Never seen her before in my life. "And she doesn't look too happy. Are you sure she doesn't want to shoot us?" He didn't want to admit it out loud and look like a wuss, but he was half-certain they were gonna die if they didn't take cover.
Eden had finally gotten close enough to say something– but her train of thought took a whole different route when she noticed the bruise on Kaz's face. He's hurt? How the heck did that happen?!
"You're injured?!" she asked incredulously.
He glanced down at his body, seeing nothing but his burnt clothes and bare, unbloodied skin.
"Nah, I'm good," he said, then looked up at Eden and frowned.
She's looking at me like I should know her. Did I?
"Um…." Kaz scratched the back of his head. "Do…do I know you, per chance?"
"Do you know me?" Eden echoed, assuming that he was just pretending to be oblivious for whatever reason. "Kaz, stop playing dumb. This is serious. That is serious," she said, motioning towards his injury. "If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be surprised, but considering it's you–" She interrupted herself. "We need to hurry and get back. You can tell me what happened on the way."
"Hang on a second," Curtis dared to say. "Get back? Back where?"
"I'm not playing dumb. I seriously have no clue who you are." Kaz frowned when she said a name. "Is my name Kaz?"
He turned to Curtis when he spoke, glancing down at his sleeve and patting down the last little ember. "And, yeah, where do you plan on taking me, anyways?
He was finding it hard to trust a woman who he had no relocation of, despite the fact the she seems to know him.
Eden stared at him for a short moment, her expression unchanging, as if she were trying to see if he was being serious. When she decided that he wasn't kidding, her eyes widened a bit.
"Oh geez. This is bad. What have they done to you?" She pressed a button on her intercom. "I've found him, but he has amnesia. I'll have him back ASAP." She let her finger off of the button and turned back to Kaz. "Yes, your name is Kaz. I need to take you back to the lab. Can you remember anything at all?"
"Wait– lab?" Curtis asked, voicing his concern. The woman completely ignored him, as if he didn't even exist.
"Um….waking up?" Kaz said, frowning as he racked his brain. Anything? He shouted into the empty void of his head. Nah, it shouted back.
"Curtis says he saw a building fall on me and dragged me out of the rubble," Kaz said, pointing over to where his new friend stood.
(What if Kaz was only built to withstand large explosions and things of that nature? So, like, a building falling on his exceeds expectations? And! OOO. What if he was grown in the lab?)
