Battle in the Backstreets (all welcome)

[ariamorgan]

Her shoulders ached, a low dull throbbing. It was getting dark. The sun had fallen, but the air was hot and humid. The old army surplus store was out on Chatham Avenue, a really ugly part of Las Vegas, beyond the lights and casino’s and verging on the desert wastelands.

‘Big Mick’ the proprietor only sold his best gear out of hours. Expensive, but worth it. Aria made her pilgrimage once every few months to stock up on those bounty hunting essentials. It was unlikely she would return home with more than a 50 bucks in her pocket, but at least she’d be packing an impressive order of ammo and firearms to keep business interesting.

Walking down the sidewalk, toward the back entrance of ‘Big Mick’s’, Aria rolled her shoulders back, trying to untie the knot of tension that had been plaguing her since she first set foot in the city. The street was quiet, unlit. Old warehouses and boarded up outlets fringed the roadway. Aria’s footsteps clicked and echoed – the only sound other than the buzzing of a generator a few yards away.

Why am I so nervous? She asked herself.

Before stepping over another pothole, Aria froze. Something darted in the corner of her eye. Instinctively she reached for her rifle and sent her senses out, winging through the evening hush.

Nothing. Nothing but the noise of the generator and the urban darkness.

Cursing herself for being so jumpy, Aria was about to move on. But then the sound of gunfire broke out, before a stunning impact to the thigh threw her to the ground.

Cach! She winced inwardly, reaching toward her leg. I’ve been shot!?!

[jaylucas]

"Shit..." Jay mumbled to himself, looking around the dark streets of a part of Las Vegas he had never been to. He was so lost, it wasn't even funny. Usually, he had a great sense of direction, but one of his friends had taken a cap, and left Jay to wander out into parts of places he had never been. Was this even still Vegas?

He had his hands in his pockets as he was walking down the sidewalk, looking for any sign of people, directions, or even light, for that matter. It was dark, and hot. Jay liked the dark, but not when you were alone in a place you had never even seen before, and he always hated being hot.

It wasn't that Jay couldn't take care of himself, it just felt really creepy at that moment. Looking around, he saw noone. He saw an army surplus store that someone was walking into, that ahd light, and didn't look too creepy. So, he walked that way.

Just before he entered the store, he heard a gunshot. What the hell...?" He mumbled, reaching back and grabbing his pistol that ahd been hidden under the tail of his shirt, and turning the saftey off. He held it infront of him, and walked forward. Looking around, he was trying to figure out who it was that had shot, and who had been shot.

It was hard to hear anything over the loud generator tha twas buzzing like crazy. He saw a girl laying on the ground. She was obviously the one who ahd gotten shot, but who the hell shot her? Jay continued looking around the place, trying to figure that out.

[ariamorgan]

“Awww, C’nack y banc! Bewch! Neithi fawr!” Aria cursed loudly in welsh as she kicked the nearest trash can, giving her cover as she held onto her heavily bleeding thigh. From behind the steel can, Aria tore off a piece of her top to apply a tourniquet. It stung like hell.

“Arglwydd!” She spat. But with the bleeding stemmed, Aria could concentrate on finding the bastard who shot her. Taking hold of her rifle, she used the scope to find targets.

The blood on her hands made the grip slippery. But using a wide panning motion she scanned the area. A man, human no less, dirty blonde, 6 feet tall and with a pistol in hand looking right at her.

“Bastard!” She hissed, before releasing a warning shot his way. The bullet skimmed the sidewalk in front of him.


((ooc note: In case there’s any confusion, Aria just fired a warning shot at Jay, thinking he’s a suspect. The ppl who really fired the shot are after Aria because she assassinated one of their guys in a bounty she was hired to do a while ago. Feel free to play/use them as you wish.))

[jaylucas]

Jay was continuing to look around for where the shot had come from. His gun took aim, as he heard another shot hit close to him on the pavement. "Shit!" He yelled in surprise. He lowered the barrel when he realized the shot had come from the girl who had been shot herself. "Hey! I ain't the one who shot you!" He yelled.

He heard someone move behind him, coming toward him quickly. He turned around to see a man in a pure black suit coming at him. He drew his free hand back sent it flying forward, slamming into the man's throat. The man grabbed his throat and fell to his knees. Jay drew back again and punched him in the face, knocking him back onto the ground.

Jay turned around, looking. There must have been more than one. This one didn't have a gun. Suddenly, he saw another one coming up behind the woman, holding a gun. "Watch out!" He yelled. Normally, he would have taken the shot, but he was too far away to get the aim right with a pistol. He didn't want to risk shooting her.

[ariamorgan]

"Hey! I ain't the one who shot you!" He yelled.

The conviction in his voice told her that he wassen’t lying. But when she saw how he then took down your regular baddie gumball, it confirmed this.

“My bad.” She winced.

“Watch out!” He shouted, and this time Aria was aware of a presence behind her. She rolled onto her back, rifle aimed high. No time for a warning shot this time. Fingered the trigger, and one lethal dose of hot metal seared through the air, landing dead between some chick with a pistol primed toward her.

The bitch was so close that the shot threw back shards of skull and gore, which splattered over Aria.

“Nice.” Aria said sarcastically. The chick flopped to her knees and then to the floor, with the top of her head missing just like that from classic grindhouse.

Dark figures, leaping from shadows raced above a chain-link fence then disappeared in the maze of urban jungle. Probably running away from the sound of sirens which was slowly creeping into the vicinity. Aria would of sworn she’d have picked up that she was been watched, unless these were professionals after her arse. Nothing would surprise her any more. She certainly had her fair share of suspects who wanted to see her dead.

Aria tried to pick herself up, hoping to chase after her nameless enemies, but the pain from her thigh made her scream in pain.
“Crap. Son of a…” Aria bit off the last few words.

[jaylucas]

Jay's mouth had nearly dropped as he watched the woman shoot the whole top of some girl's head off after he had warned her about it. "Damn." He muttered. He hadn't seen a kill like in in... well... a long time. It wasn't everyday a gunfight broke out in the middle of a city you had never been to before.

He watched as people scurried off like mice when a cat showed up. Jay put his pistol back in it's place, and ran over to the girl who was trying to get up. Right before he got there, he heard her let out a scream of pain. "Here," Jay began, as he knelt down beside her. "Let me help you up." He said as he took one of her arms, and pput it around his shoulders, helping her up, so she wouldn't have to put pressure on the leg she was shot in.

[ariamorgan]

Blood caked her jeans turning the blue denim black. Yet another hole gapped in the well used material.
Damn, that was my last pair! Aria figured, gritting her teeth at the thought of having to go clothes shopping again. The materialistic urge to cash out credit cards for the latest designer handbag or Gucci boots was lost on Aria.

The good Samaritan who’d alerted that a bitch was about to bust a cap in her arse, ran over and tried to help her up.
“Thanks.” Aria said, biting back the pain as she arose to full height. “But who the hell are you?”

As he answered, Aria primed her riffle, locking a fresh magazine clip of ammo and adjusting the scope’s crossbar for close range. Tearing off another shard of her top (another item of clothing to add to her shopping list) she tied it around her thigh, giving further support to the tourniquet. All she needed now was a crutch and she was ready to go limping for vengeance.

She stared at the Samaritan thoughtfully.

[jaylucas]

"No problem." Jay answered, with a smile, as the girl he had helped up told him thanks. He let out a small laugh as she asked who the hell he was. "My name's Jay. I ended up in this part of the city somehow, needed directions, hear a gunshot, and boom, here I am." He said, grinning.

He looked down at her tight. Damn, that was bleeding like a bitch. "I would ask what I could do to help, but there's not a whole lot that can be done for a gunshot like that, not here, at least. I don't exactly have medical supplies, so..." He said, trailing off.

[ariamorgan]

"I would ask what I could do to help, but there's not a whole lot that can be done for a gunshot like that, not here, at least. I don't exactly have medical supplies, so..." He said, trailing off.

“All that can be done is to try and control the bleeding.” Aria said as she double checked that her daggers were at hand if she needed them. The wound was bleeding badly, but she’d survive leaving with a nasty mark. Scars were a dime a dozen in this profession and Aria didn’t see herself entering any beauty pageants within the near future. “I would plug the hole if I had the chance and elevate it, but right now ain’t a good time to be putting my feet up. I need to go after the other’s, before they regroup and make another surprise attack. If I could just get to my motorcycle then I could cut them off before they hit the roadway the other side of those buildings.”

Aria looked Jay up and down. She wondered why he had a pistol in the first place. Then again with a Barrett M98B sniper rifle and two vicious looking daggers sheathed, she didn’t appear all that innocent either.

“Reckon you can help walk me over there?” She nodded to the lot just beyond the corner. Aria’s Ducatti monster leaned to one side amidst the dumpsters and trash.

[jaylucas]

Jay listened as she explained her plan. Jay was all for revenge, but when you had a hole in your leg, wasn't that the biggest thing to worry about? Either way, Jay would help if she asked. Hell, it gave him something to do. Vegas was fun, and all, but it got old.

He nodded after she asked if he could help her get to ger bike. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Jay knew he should've drove his bike from teh hotel, but didn't think to long on it. "Alright, you ready?" He asked, standing up to get ready to help her walk.

[ariamorgan]

“Alright, you ready?" He asked

“Watch me go like Linford Christie.” Aria replied. More like zimmer frame grandma. As, Aria took her first few steps forward the pain was intense. But she gritted her teeth and refused to wail out in pain, digging her nails into Jay’s shoulder a little too hard.

“Sorry.” She said. But her attention was fixed on the way ahead. Concentrating on the path and getting to her bike. Each step felt like murder, and it didn’t help with the bleeding.

Nearly there. She said to herself as she hobbled a few more paces. Just keep breathing.

“Talk to me Jay.” Aria said trying to conjure some distraction from the tender throbbing in her thigh. “Tell me, where are you from? What’s your story? Can’t really say you’re an average Joe whist packing material like that.” She pointed to his pistol.

[jaylucas]

Jay gritted his teeth for a moment as she dug her nails into his shoulder. But, he slowly got used to it, and was actually used to worse pain. He helped her slowly walk along, on their way to where ever they were going. To her bike, she had said.

Jay looked over at her as she asked him where he was from, and asked what his story was, pointing out that normal people don't carry weapons. "Well, I'm from France, Paris to be exact. I usually stay in London when I'm not traveling. About the gun, I used to be part of a big crime organization, and let's just say they decided they didn't want me anymore, and aren't too happy with me right now. What's your story?"

[ariamorgan]

“Crime organisation?” Aria’s rose an eyebrow. A droplet of perspiration fell from that eyebrow, as the strain of walking with one shot out leg began to show.

“My story? I’m a bounty hunter by profession, suicidal by life.” She said answering his question. The view of her sleek wheels, silver chrome with black and blood red bodywork came into sight. Not far to go now. “I’m Welsh. In case you couldn’t figure out the accent. And in case you don’t know where Wales is I suggest you don’t bother trying to find out. Not much all there except a few sheep.”

She paused briefly in her pace. Needing to catch her breath. Realising she was going too slow, she continued to walk, faster this time.

“Do you normally affiliate yourself with crime organisations?” Aria asked.

[jaylucas]

"Yeah, the all-so-infamous European Mafia." He said, after she had said something about him being in a crime organization. Normally, Jay would have went into a bit more detail, but now didn't seem like the time for story telling.

Jay listened as she told him she was a bounty hunter. He nodded. "Done a few of those, myself. Not my favorite jobs to do. And, yeah, I've been to Wales a few times. Well, twice, I think. Didn't stay long, maybe for a night or two to lay low for a bit after a job." He told her.

Jay let out a small laugh and shook his head after she ahd asked if normally had anything to do with criminal orginizations. "No, that wasn't really a choice that was mine. I had no control over it at first, then I got good at it, and made good friends. So, I stayed there 'till I was about nineteen, then they tried to steal all my shit while I was gone." He said.

[ariamorgan]

“Mafia?” She exclaimed, missing a step. She let that one hang there. By his story it sounded like he was trying to brake things off with his old tie ins. But Aria knew, that the Mafia meant trouble, big trouble. Even ex affiliate’s could not be trusted.

She looked down at her leg, continuing to dribble red gore. But damn, she needed him.

With the bike within reach she clambered on.

“Can you drive one of these things?” She asked him.