featherduster | ( Limelight ) Pre-game AU threads

[scene: Port Manteau, wee hours. the vigilante’s been followed for a while now since he made his kill; always a risk when going for a crime boss. they lost his trail a couple of times but they keep cottoning onto him again, the bastards. two tails: one a hulking fellow who might give Brocade a run for his money; the other a shorter, slimmer figure.

one of them might have a tracking Blessing of some sort, or he’d definitely have given them the slip by now. fuck. the big guy has SOME kind of kinetic Blessing for sure; no one’s tried to fire a gun since he got out of the compound, but he’s been dodging pebbles and ball-bearings hurled his way with the lethal force of bullets whenever they get close.

they’re at the dockside when he finally makes a mistake and one of those projectiles lands a hit, right when he’s about to make a rooftop jump across a blind alley…]

[ Shit.

A slip-up is inevitable after long enough -- and this pursuit has been way too fucking long. Not normal at all.

He manages to grip the rail of a fire escape on his plummet into the alley (breaking every finger in the process, no doubt), but with the momentum it does little more than slow his fall enough to be less lethal.

He lands on his feet before quickly collapsing from what he's sure is a broken ankle at minimum; grimaces at the thud of his own body, loud and vulnerable. Not trusting his legs and not wanting to get shot in the head while trying to heal them, he scoots as far up against the wall as he can, hoping to at least make himself hard to spot. ]

[he can hear the unerring approach, unfortunately. it’s not a straight beeline—even a tracker has to figure out how to get through the narrow byways at street level—but they’re definitely heading in his direction.

there’s some murmur of conversation, indistinct at first but growing clearer with the footsteps.

“—not moving. Think we finally put that bastard out of our misery.”

“Well, in that case, I suppose I ought to play my part…”]

[ Are they sending teams after him now? Should he be flattered? Good-cop bad-cop, maybe?

Not that there's any way to tell who's the good cop and who's the bad cop. Whatever. ACAB.

There is movement, at that second voice; he tries to reach for the dart gun strapped under his cloak -- each dart is laced with enough neurotoxin to take down even the big fucker -- but his fingers plainly do not cooperate. Only him being good at his job prevents him from swearing aloud. ]

[fucker sounds so calm about it! amused, even]

Get a bead on him in there, will you? Shoot him if he makes any move; your organization isn’t paying me enough to die in the line of duty.

[he’s making his way to the mouth of the alley Aloe dropped into; he’s got his own face mostly covered, actually. the man he’s with takes aim.]

[ His own mask is low over his face; a face that isn't his own, as it never is for this.

He gets his hand mostly around the handle of the dart gun, but doesn't trust his broken fingers; worst case scenario, he gets his hands on this guy and does this the Blessing way, hopefully before his idiot partner can line up a shot.

He holds his breath, squinting into dark. Show yourself, asshole. ]

[the ground under him feels weirdly uncertain, suddenly and with no breath of transition, in the same moment that a tall dark-clothed figure comes into view, moving towards him with easy confidence.

(what the fuck it’s like he’s stuck in tar)]

[ This glare is rather ruined by the hood low over his face, but his tone is amiable and conversational. He doesn't move, because obviously, he can't. ]

Gotta wonder what's in it for you, taking a job like this for shit pay.

It’s not personal, you know. I just owed someone a favor.

[that voice is definitely familiar, even low and quiet as it is…? he doesn’t have a voice or face-changing Blessing

he’s dropping to one knee next to Aloe, frowning]

[ What the fuck. His narrow, trying to catch a glimpse of literally any facial feature under the hood.

His back presses firmer up against the wall, a subtle but fruitless retreat. ]

So you're in bed with real shit someones. Got it.

[dry]

I don’t think very much of moral commentary from a killer, thank you.

[there’s a glint of moonlight that gives the game away when he turns his head at an angle, as he reaches to push up Aloe’s hood. he still had to leave his eyes uncovered, after all; the fine scales around them glitter, silvery.]

[ Stiffening up instinctively as the hood is moved -- is that really necessary to kill him? He won't recognize the face or the eyes, though there's a beauty mark that might have familiar placement . . .

Regardless, his mark seems to recognize him, eyes going wide. ]

You?!

[ He doesn't sound afraid, just really fucking offended ]

[…

his eyes widen a little, those giveaway scales ruffling around them, and…

his gloved thumb lands squarely on the beauty mark :)]

Ah. I see.

[ FUCKING. BITES HIM. ]

[the harsh indraw of breath does indicate that the bite really fucking hurts

instead of jerking back he just closes his wholeass hand over the lower half of Aloe’s face and shoves him down, though. sorry tiger the back of your head is getting stuck in the weird tar trap along with the rest of you]

[ Wait. This SUCKS. He can't even say anything clever with his entire jaw gripped.

He does still try to jerk free, fruitless as that is. ]

[said so softly he almost doesn’t catch it, even with both of them right beside each other]

Shut up and lie still.

[the hand’s yanked from the grip of his teeth, finally, and Frost reaches for him again, to…

…

tug his hood back into place and hide his face again

???]

[ He makes an aborted, baffled noise, but does as he's told. He can't exactly go anywhere.

This is the least efficient murder he's ever participated in, Vincent. ]

[he doesn’t accept critique from guys who’d be dead in any other version of this circumstance, Aloe

anyway instead of murdering him he withdraws a sheaf of papers from inside his clothes somewhere and stands, heading back almost to the alley mouth. his partner(?) is still there.

“You good?”

“Mm, just wanted to check before I disposed of the corpse. Looks like he took something from your boss’s office—come look at this.”

the other guy moves closer, lowering the projectile that was aimed Aloe’s way. hm.]

[ ????????????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ ]

[the confusion is probably not reduced by the big guy’s gait going visibly unsteady as he crosses that short distance, until he suddenly collapses against the wall, too, pretty much at Vincent’s feet

the shadows hide a lot of what’s happening but, uh. those choking noises and thrashing he’s doing are alarming]

[ ?????????????????

W H A T I S H A P P E N I N G ]

[your nemesis waiting for an opening and then mercy killing his partner with a knife appears to be what is happening

yo what the fuck]

[ AUDIBLY ]

What the fuck.

Shh.

[the weird sticky grip the ground has on Aloe’s everything falls away, all of a sudden. Vincent’s just standing there with his back turned to him, looking down at the corpse]

You really should get out of here.

( Limelight ) Pre-game AU threads

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