...
Urgh...
This is... she hasn't felt like this for... for a long time. She thinks, she's not exactly capable of forming any decidedly coherent thoughts at the moment. Everything's... heavy, her eyelids, her hands, her legs, her fingers and maybe even ears and nails.
She stirs minutely. Not finding strength nor will to do anything more. And it's warm, too warm, she normally hates it but at the moment she feels no more than mild annoyance towards it, doesn't matter, she's tired. Too tired.
Her eyes flutter halfway open yet remain unseeing.
She's too tired.
The girl goes back to scouring the mountains of broken bots with her friends.
(-)
The Sun is out. But it doesn't hurt her eyes when she looks at it. Maybe because she can't open them, and yet she can see it clearly, the bluest sky, the most yellow Sun and all of it pretty as a picture.
She reaches out and throws the picture away. The new one is cast in setting red, red horizon, red Sun, red world.
It's so pretty when it burns.
(-)
Bucketface leans over her and without warning, jabs a gloved finger behind her ear.
"Hey!" She swats the offending arm away, not minding her own being tied down to a metal table.
"Stop squirming. The sooner I'm done the sooner you can go."
The girl flashes him a crooked smile and stands up in spite of his protests. Is there a mirror somewhere around? She suddenly sees her own image, right, who needs mirrors? She looks at herself and wonders where has her hair gone when she's thrown back to the table.
"But I don't wanna go."
He leans over her and jabs behind her ear again.
(-)
The Sun is blue again. The night however remains much the same as always, dark and uncaring for light. Only some of it illuminated by street lamps down below the rooftop she's been lying on for the last few minutes.
A purple kitten sits itself down on her stomach, and she absentmindedly reaches out to scratch its back.
"I can't get up." She's been trying a lot. It's annoying, like trying to fall asleep, only in reverse.
The furball turns to face her.
"Do you want to?" Not really, and that's what's wrong. She should want to. Always has. Sleep is a waste unlike any other, as she's come to realize.
Her mind is heavy, but her body rattles under its reign.
(-)
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"You know what day is it?"
"...Varia?"
"So, no. And I haven't seen her since."
"You?"
"Been better, I'm glad you're here."
(-)
She watches as the man's skin dissolves in the acidic cloud. Nice, not exactly her thing but still awesome.
"Fire's still better though."
"No kiddin', my lungs went 'n pissed 'emselves. Nasty I tell ya." The dismembered sack of meat adds cheerfully.
"Shut up, you don't got lungs to speak."
The corpse huffs and is there no longer. Good, you're not supposed to be chatty after getting hit with a chem strike. Now, where to? Nothing left but poison here.
Gruff's place, yeah. Smoke and powder and grease. Stupid, always so dirty, as are her hands, where are her hands?
(-)
She slams the oven shut and leans forward to marvel at how the buildings burn inside it. It's too hot, inside and out. The girl pouts and looks outside the oven she herself is in. Her own giantic eye watching her smaller self in gleeful curiosity as her world heats up red.
She tries to move but finds her body too heavy, too tired to do so. She walks up to the glass, uncaring for the scalding heat bearing down on her and tries pushing it open. Ugh, she wants out, out!
Her whole body buckles and she's strapped to a bed, too hot, it's too hot. Sweaty and uncomfortable and damp and she wants out!
She can't get out.
(-)
"Nice place you got here." Says Vi as she flies out of her ear in a flutter of neon-pink feathers. "Spacious and all, could use more stuff."
"What, wanna settle down?" She asks with a devious smirk as she closes the door in her ear shut. No dumb birds picking her brain out, nooo sir!
She looks on in amusement as the little pink bird tries to crash through the obstacle a couple of times before finally giving up and setting in her hair. Hah! Dumbass, it's her head, no birds allowed! Which reminds her.
She springs Pow-Pow poen and unleashes a hailstorm of bullets at the fat, ugly pigeons littering the theater stage.
(-)
"I got a plush fish."
"Crayons and paper. Was drawing on walls, they say I can."
"I got a plush fish."
"You seen Jojo lately? He wasn't having breakfast with us for some time now.
"Five."
"You sure?"
"Five."
(-)
"I didn't know you were such an artist." Whistles her rocket launcher from the side, where he's sitting under the unpainted part of the wall. Yet unpainted part. She grabs him and looks at her graffiti from behind her own back.
A giant, red, dead frog. And if anybody says otherwise they've obviously never seen a frog before!
"Hey, lets blow it up, art is fleeting yeah?"
"But you just drew her." He says indignantly.
"Well dur, that's the point!" She levels her friend at the Enforcer's graffiti and pulls the trigger, moments later the rocket hits the bricks, splashing them red with fire.
(-)
Fireworks paint the sky in fires both bright and spectacular, one explosion has left rhino on the violet night sky, while another still trails rusty circles around it, but most of them simply spout smoke and sparkling dust in their wake.
It's pretty, could use a bit more fire...
Her friends don't leave her hanging, one quickly making the sky explode in shades of orange, another searing red hot tears in the sky, while the third compliments their work with a stream of blinding (she's sure) blues.
She crosses her unmoving arms behind her head and leans back onto the floor made of blank, colorless pillows.
(-)
Stupid, useless, broken piece of caustic trash!
She pulls the gun back, uncaring for the dozens of people she's been fighting a second ago. The gun isn't working! Again! There's something to be said about the quality of firearms she sometimes finds herself equipped with, as they tend to haphazardly stop working, and not like they break apart, no! Just stop working, she pulls the trigger and it doesn't even click.
And she knows she's pulling it! She doesn't feel it, but she's doing it! Her sight works just fine, even if her eyes are closed.
She lifts her eyes to the people in front of her, patiently waiting for her to resume their game with their own guns at the ready, all aimed at her. Somehow, theirs never simply stop working, it's infuriating!
"Time out," she growls at them, and is no longer in a flame flooded hallway, instead, she's standing atop a pile of rubble as tall as a call.
The gun forgotten, she starts looking for her friends among the still smoldering ashes.
(-)
Nine twenty three.
She looks away, closing her eyes and forcing them open, then back to the clock.
Seven twenty three.
Again.
Hazy, heavy, her eyes close again.
Two thirty one.
She looks up at the all too white clouds, hovering still on the red sky. She puffs her cheeks and blows it all away, leaving silence and warmth behind. Along with the clock in her hand.
Five eleven.
It can't be five eleven!
She rattles at her restraints and repeats the process anew. She wants out. She knows she wants out, that she doesn't want to matters little, the choice between do and do not is no choice at all.
A sliver of pain brings her attention to her arm, huh. She hasn't seen it in... well, long.
She opens her eyes and there is no clock.
(-)
"It's nothing, doesn't hurt one bit. Sh-fff, don't poke it! Please."
"Miss you."
"Miss you too, but look, I'm here, I promised I'd visit yeah?"
"Miss you."
"I- I'm sorry I can't come more often, I only get one day off a week and... I'm lucky anyway. It's not bad, really.
"Really?"
"Could be worse, I got you don't I?"
She stirs, trying to relieve the tension out of her back. Everything's wrong, it's too warm, she can't move, the world feels heavy. Like it's crushing her underneath its weight. And her throat, there's something wrong with her throat that she can't put into words.
It takes her a moment to realize she can't see. What's changed, what is... right. She has to open her eyes, it's weird, having to bother so much just to see again.
A white ceiling greets her eyes when she, for a change, she manages to keep them open for a few moments. What is, where is she? She can't tell, well that's annoying. She usually knows where she is, most of the time she's not even thinking about it and all of a sudden, she's almost blind to the world. Well, there's always her friends to fall back on.
"Hrngh," she manages to wheeze out. But there's no response, and that's just not right. They're always... did she die? She's somewhat familiar with the concept of afterlife but the last thing she remembers is tagging the public library and that's not exactly a lethal activity, did she slip and fell? If so, this isn't anything like she had been told death would be like, stuff feels just wrong instead of blissful and whatnot, and what about the chase? There's supposed to be a chase! This whole thing sorta sucks if she's really dead and will have to spend the rest of eternity like this. No really, she might just go crazy!
Something that might be a giggle, were her throat in working order, escapes her chapped lips.
Nah, this feels more like those days when she just passes out, or rather the following evening (it's usually evenings) when she wakes up. Oh man, she really must have gotten messed up to feel all wrong like this.
No time to waste then! Where's Fishbones? Did she leave him in the workroom?
Jinx forces her eyes open again, although with some difficulty, and pushes herself up. Or tries to at least, Is that- is she tied to a bed? She doesn't have a bed. She can feel leather around her wrists, ankles and stomach, and it's reminding her of something she'd much rather... Oh no.
Her eyes snap open, her mind clear in an instant as a surge of panic washes over her.
No, nonononono.
The girl's body tenses up and a moment after, she lurches upwards, only a couple of centimeters as her bindings easily hold her in place. The bluenette's breath skyrockets in a matter of seconds, her heart loosing all semblance of rhyme as it wildly hammers in her chest. Her head angling in every direction it can, and wide, fearful, red eyes keep snapping from the machinery beside her to the stark white walls.
With not a small amount of effort, Jinx manages to swallow whatever is left in her mouth and hoarsely croak out.
"Fishbones?" She sounds... weird, and not because of her rusty throat, cause well- yeah she does sound different but it seems something's wrong with her hearing too. "Pow-Pow? Z-Zap?" It hurts to speak but she tries once again. "Guys?" Still no answer.
The criminal hears a thud of- something against wood, and then footsteps. She tries arching herself towards the source of it but it's firmly outside her sight. No, she can't stay like that, she needs to get out, out!
She resumes her attempts at getting out of her restraints, feeble though they are. She can't give up, she won't go back!
"Gears- will you shut up?" She seizes up. Her hearing might not exactly be stellar but she would still recognize that voice anywhere.
"Vi?"
"Uhuh," a face framed by a mop of pink hair enters her field of view. "Damn you look glazed."
Jinx stares at the woman's face for a moment, before she lets a shaky breath out and sags back down onto her bed. Suddenly exhausted and sore all over. She chokes on air for a moment as her breathing stabilizes.
"That just your thing or-" the Enforcer cuts off and abruptly shoves herself away from the bed. Jinx cranes her neck- trying to follow Vi with her eyes but to no anvil. A pang of something she doesn't like jabs itself into her stomach at the thought of being left alone in this room. She tries to speak up and winces at the grating pain the intake of air leaves her with. She thinks she can hear her Enforcer murmur something about a "fucking bodyguard" but she can't be sure, her hearing is not exactly all there.
The criminal bites her cracked lips as she listens to Vi (or at least she thinks so) doing... something, in the room. She almost panics when she hears something like a door opening, but it's a second pair of shoes that makes itself known, not one leaving.
"Hello Enforcer, how long has she been awake?" Now this voice she doesn't recognize, a man's, sounds old. Well, 'old'.
"Like two minutes I guess, been restless a bit longer. You gonna put her under again?" Under? Under what?
"That depends." Depends on what! Jinx wishes they'd stop talking nonsense.
A man dressed in whites and greens and an ugly coat, comes into her view and for just a second, Jinx's mind comes to a grinding halt, before her entire body coils up, seemingly ready to spring. He walks up to her with something he probably thinks is a soothing smile. She wants to grab a knife and cut it off his stupid, wrinkled face. "Calm down Jinx we're not going to hurt you."
A snort can be hard from the maniac's right, and this time, the prisoner can see the pinkette when she turns her head to the side. Fugly shoots Vi a disapproving look, idiot, she ought to gouge his eyes out. That would teach him!
"What?" Jinx can't say if Vi sounds amused or irritated, it's sort of hard for her to tell the nuances like that with people she doesn't spend most of her day with. Like Fishbones... her friends.
"Where are they!?" She fails to shout, ending up hacking her lungs up.
The Coat looks at her again, a frown marring his face, he then reaches out for something beside her bed's head, at an angle at which she can only see the pillow when her eyes try to follow his hand. A hand that is way, way too close to her head than is to the girl's liking.
She lunges out and is about to bite into the man's wrist, when she's stopped from doing so by her restraints. The old guy lets out a surprised gasp and trips away a would-be moment too late to stop Jinx from sinking her teeth in his wrist. Not what's she's been going for but she'll take what she gets at this point. For all their supposed brains, all those doctors don't seem so smart to her. Bunch of idiots if anything, she'll teach them not to mess with her! And what a lesson it would be were it not for these stupid restraints. Ugh! There are many things she can confidently say she hates but shackles must be in the top six, or maybe seven. Depends on the day.
"Ah... could you please?" The man shakily calls out, still some distance away from her bed, speaking to Pinktard apparently- who looks only a bit alarmed, though still ready to spring into action. The woman rolls her eyes at the question, but moves to where Gramps just jumped away from, very deliberately avoiding exposing her arm to Jinx the same way he just has. Good, she's not as dumb as she looks. What is it that they're trying to do anyway? Now she's curious.
Her question is answered right away as Vi pulls her hand back, showing a plastic bottle with a straw sticking out the top. Oh, she sees how it is, she busts her ass pulling the moron outta fire (of her own making but come on, details) and this retard can't even be bothered to give her a drink when she needs it? Ass. Not that she really expects anything less of that loser.
She shoots the taller woman a dirty look as she bites down on the straw, she's not sure what is she drinking, her mouth too parched to acknowledge anything beside the relief the drink brings her. The bluenette tries not to drink too quickly but gives the battle up when she feels the crust inside her throat wash away. She ends up almost inhaling, what by the end she figures out, is water, and is sent into a coughing fit when Vi changes her grip on the bottle as to poke at Jinx's palate with the straw, making her spit some water out, and the rest go down the wrong hole.
"You suck." She accuses the pinkhead through her coughs, and is flashed an innocent smile in response.
"Awww, did the little terrorist wet herself?" Is she mocking her? Jinx thinks she's mocking her. Oh she's gonna get it once-
"Enough," the Coat butts in. "officer please, don't harass my patient."
"Why not? She's already dead, just not caught up with the fact." What? So did she die or not because this is really just getting confusing right now.
"She's still my patient and that's no reason to-" Oh for...
"Man, she tried to bite you." Yeah! Shut his ugly mug up!
"Yes, it happens sometimes, hence the restraints. Nonetheless, please refrain from disturbing my patient." Jinx is reasonably sure he doesn't get the memo. He's not supposed to be this civil after almost getting bit, or this calm, or willing to even be around for that matter. Oh well, she'll just have to try harder next time, that's for later though- there's something else on her mind right now.
"Hey Fats-" Her voice, while still scratchy, returned to being somewhat recognizable as hers after she had a drink, and her throat doesn't hurt nearly as much anymore." You said I'm dead?" Cause it would really suck if she did after all die, and this whole afterlife deal would be about being tied down to a bed.
"No miss, you're not-"
"Wasn't asking you!" She snarls at the man. Really, REALLY rude of him to cut in like that.
"Miss, please, I'm not try-"
"I said shut up!" She shouts, the burn she feels immediately afterwards almost makes her regret it, almost. She hates dealing with idiots like him, she's not talking to him- why does he think she cares for what he has to say? And all of them, each and every one of those cretins is the same! Gah!
The guy looks like he's going to say something again, but right as he's about to speak, he closes his mouth and turns away.
"Officer, could you?" he asks, sounding resigned.
"What, I'm your personal assistant now?" Jinx still can't say if it's amusement or annoyance that she hears in Vi's voice.
"No officer, but I would very much appreciate your help."
"Ugh, whatever. No Twerp you're not dead, I'd know, you did almost choke on your vomit though. Guys had to give you CPR."
"CP-what?" She doesn't remember any C-something, nor vomiting, honestly she can't remember much at all since her last graffiti run, and that was... three (or four?) days after finding Vi in hospital. And even that is kinda foggy.
"CPR?" She repeats as she comes to her side again, a questioning expression adoring her face. Jinx tries to shrug (with questionable success) and make a face of her own. "Nevermind, But yeah you're not dead. Yet, anyway."
"Wanna make some sense?" Cause seriously, it's like she's trying not to make any of it right now.
"Psh, sure, you're gonna die in a week or two."
Die? What, now?
"Hah, pfthahaha!" She can't help it, somehow she finds the idea of dying in this place funny right now. As if! Coats don't kill, they twist and break and weld back together, but kill? What's the point?
"What you laughing at Twerp?" Yeah, now she's irritated, the bluenette can finally tell.
"D-die! What, you gonna kill me?" She manages to squeak through her giggles. Honestly, the idea of Vi killing her sounds even more ridiculous, they've played so many times, and yeah, sure, neither really holds back but it's not like they're really trying to kill each other. Well, maybe- maybe they are, sort of, but it's not what their little game is about. If either of them dies, the game is over. Not something Jinx wants, where would she find herself another Fathands? Hat Lady just doesn't get it, she's not chasing her, only making traps which, while Jinx is more than willing to spring, are nowhere near as fun as having Moron chase her. Hammerhead is kinda fun to screw with, but still not as fun as her Enforcer is, gangs and police both simply bore her, military is fun, but they're a bit... much. Sure, she doesn't mind dying while playing, better that than to go to the hospital again that's for sure. Still, she likes having odds better than zero.
But she's not the one making the rules and if Fatass wants to step her game up? She can step her game up, not the first death-run she's been through, not gonna be the last. So what does she need? Well Pinktard is already around so there is that. Where she is doesn't really matter, she's getting out, not in. How she got here... she doesn't really care about that either. She only has to get out of these binds, figure out where her friends are and then get them back, no biggie. Her restrains are going to be a bit of an issue but the rest should be easy enough.
"Where are my guns?"
"Not here." Vi answers with a smirk. Oh she wouldn't sound anywhere near so smug were Jinx not restrained. It must show on her face because it's then that the man with them decides to interrupt.
"I think that's enough."
Rust...
"Anybody asked you?" She angrily snaps. He's going to die, Jinx decides. No way she's letting him interrupt them again and again and just let him off the hook. "Actually, wait. Where are my guns?" She directs the question at the geezer. One last chance for him.
"I'm afraid I don't know miss." Figures. What did she expect? The likes of him to be helpful? Good one Jinx, good one, her friends would laugh, maybe. "I'm also afraid that I have to examine your health, now that you woke up. Preferably while you're awake." He finishes pointedly. Of course, they're all like that, polite even as they pull one's brain out. "Do I have your permission to do so?" She glances at the officer, who has seemingly lost her interest and is now looking around the room.
If she's here, and saying she's supposed to die...
"Go choke in a puddle." The old fart is grossly mistaken if he thinks she's going to make things easier for him. He even has enough gall to sigh, as if he expected her to cooperate. He's really not all that smart is he?
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. I prefer to work with my patients without having to resort to narcosis." Jinx's whole face scrunches up in resentment, doing a rather good job of masking her unease as well.
He moves out of her sight, somewhere behind the machinery beside her bed. Jinx's skin crawls when the sound of metal and glass becomes heard in the room, her eyes switch to Vi again, who looks at (Jinx thinks) the man with the kind of expression one usually reserves for smelling something rotten.
"You say I'm gonna die?" The girl inquires, sounding somewhat muted.
"Hm?" The pinkette turns attention to her, taking a moment to catch up with the question. "Yeah, my bet's on electric chair." She snorts. "Unless you kick the bucket before that anyway." Or unless she escapes. Jinx squirms as much as her position allows, she needs to think and staying still makes it so much harder for her, even more than it usually is.
"Good." She decides eventually, drawing a puzzled look from Fathands.
If she's supposed to be executed, that means she's not going to be kept here (wherever here is) indefinitely. Which is a big plus in her eyes, she's only been here about 10 minutes and she's already tired of the place. She's going to raze it to the ground when she breaks free. Way to make her care about her whereabouts.
"What's this place anyway?" Why she's here doesn't matter, but if she wants to bomb it one day...
"Calaford Hospital Centre," it's the old fart that answers as he comes back to her side, and for once she doesn't feel the urge to feed him PE4, plugged in and all, even though his voice still grates on her nerves. She turns her head towards him and even though she's been expecting the syringe in his hand, still feels her stomach churn. "You've been moved here when your infections became life-threatening. Something, which we could have avoided altogether were you admitted to a real hospital in the first place." He finishes pointedly.
"Hey, I'm not the one who made the call." Vi shots back, ooo- somebody's defensive!
"So I hear, I hope the good Sheriff's vacation will do her good. I admire her, I do, but she should leave matters of health to professionals," the grand-whatever says as he pushes the air out of the syringe, letting out a drop of whatever liquid it holds as well. What little color there is in Jinx's face flees at the sight, and the maniac suddenly feels very, very cold, her body starts trembling all on its own. She gives her shackles a last few, hopeless tugs, before directing a spiteful glare at her handler.
She will kill him, she will cut his stomach open and stuff it full of explosives. Or force acid down his throat, yeah, that would work too. Or even tie him to clock tower cogs and watch as they rip him apart, he doesn't even know how privileged he is, she's only gone to such lengths to kill a few times in the past, and she knows for a fact how high standing individuals those lucky few were. Maybe she'll let him know of the company he'll join before he dies, maybe not. Depending on the weather she supposes.
He draws the cover off her, revealing the cannula stuck in Jinx's arm. Great, one of those again, she was so done with them years before she had one stuck in her the last time. Can't even mess the injection up with that thing on. She looks away, not caring to watch something she's seen too many times already. Wait.
...where did Fatass go?
"Hey Loser... you still here?" she asks, feeling somewhat faint. Probably because of the injection, must be, her arm is numb already.
"Unfortunately." Jinx would like to say she knows where the sound came from but her hearing suddenly got a lot worse than it has been since she woke up. It's like the voice is coming from behind a door, the girl hopes the Enforcer's not behind the door.
"You're gonna stay?" She struggles to say, she means to say. What comes out of her mouth however, does not sound like the question she tries to voice.
Black spots appear before her eyes, rapidly consuming her entire vision. Her heart would beat faster- if it could, her breathing would be sharp and uneven- if it could be, her eyes would wildly dart around- if they could.
It doesn't take much time for Jinx to forget that they all should.
Damn this chap was annoying. But I rather like how it came out in the end.