Valentine laid quietly boring herself by staking out a run-down apartment. Granted she already knew in truth it was one of the few areas in which ASGL operated Labs six and eight to be exact. She tilted her binoculars upward to the roof watching for possible weakness in the laboratory's defenses for her next mission. She knew this would be a long mission for some reason it appeared extra security measures have been placed in effect at the facility for some unrefereed reason.
Tired of waiting she sat back up and moved to a folding chair some person had left up there for a probably less than legal reason. She leaned back almost relaxed reaching into her cleavage and pulled out a wrapper. She looked at it before slowly eyeing her surroundings before opening the wrapper of her chocolate bar and brought it closer to her mouth to take a bite from it.
Something in the back of her mind however told her she was not alone. A chill went down her spine as her hair that was bunched up into a pony-tale like bundle began to feel as if they were covered in static electricity. She glared away from the building she was casing to see an unsettling site.
A nun with only a single tuff of yellow hair sticking out from under the head piece sat their quietly. Her eyes where shut and she stood unmoving. Valentine knew this individual, she had been working with her for several years out of reluctance on the day last hope was slaughtered without mercy to the Skullgirl. Posing as one of her closest ally's Hallow. Valentine sighed annoyed at the intrusion of this individual knowing that what ever she had to say was more than likely just her lauding over an incomplete task that was unreasonable to begin with. Wasting little time, she stood up and slowly approached the nun.
"Double, to what do I owe this walk-in." While her word choice seemed to be formal her tone could create almost create pure tension. She slowly was getting ready to counter should Double try anything.
"The Skullgirl has requested your presence to report on the known Medici affiliated families within the Maplecrest area." Her voice was somber but that was made her all the more unsettling as Valentine glared at the individual waiting as if it were some high-noon quick draw. Double however given her appearance appeared uninterested in causing a fight. At least that would be the untrained fighter would think. In truth Valentin could tell she was thinking of all her tactics she could use to crush the last surviving member of Lab Seven's ASGL unit, Last Hope.
"She already is scheduled for a check up later today she can wait till her designated time." A tone she probably shouldn't use against an individual like double. Both knew they where plotting to kill each other. All Valentine needed was to trigger the Alarms at the ASGL Headquarters and an army would be on the two of them in a matter of minutes. Tactically it would be unwise for either to make a move because it would mean Double could possibly escape or upon her death Valentine could have the Skullgirl herself targeting her for treachery. A fight in her given the scenario would not end in her favor.
"She grows weary of your stalling Valentine. She has been more lenient than you give her credit for." Double's counter argument was showing her own form of impatience. A factor that did not go unwarranted by Valentine.
"Marie is not the one who is trying to scout out these locations." She was getting annoyed with the nun. "I don't have time for the pleasantries either of us are offering. If you want to make yourself useful." She turned away as she grabbed a sheet of paper and threw it at the nun. "Give her this, I'm guess she knows how to read. After all, she was human at one point."
Double grabbed the crumpled-up paper ball. While her face showed no ill intentions the aura she let out was one that was pure murderous intent. She turned around however and began to leave. "Oh, and Agatha," Double turned to look at Valentine her head tilted in surprise at the use of her current alias. "if that is even your real name or some alias you use. Don't use my body when I'm not on the clock." It was clear Valentine was threating her.
"As you wish. Traitor of Last Hope." Double rebutted but her voice sounded familiar. It was a form of mischievous whisper that hinted toward humorous maliciousness. Valentine turned around in shock Hearing the familiar voice from those years ago. Only to find her self alone on the roof top. Her hand gripped in rage as she knew that double went for targeting her closest friend from Last Hope.
"She'll pay." She muttered to herself as she returned to her post and resumed watching the derelict facade ASGL used for research. She sat back down her mind plotting Double's demise. She wagered that Double could go down easy She only saw her in combat once and she concluded in that encounter that She preferred waiting till an opponent's guard was down. She doubts that She could handle herself in an actual fight. Though Valentine never played in probability only solid facts which she lacked. Simply put, for Valentine: Double was an enigma. Which made her more dangerous than the Skullgirl in her book. There were centuries of records pertaining to the Skullgirl that showed a consistent set of data that is only thrown off by the Skullgirl's Psyche, a mental profile Valentine has had a lot of time to study. Double however, was almost a blank slate outside of undying devotion to the Skullheart and its creators as she put it.
She began to rest as her mind refocused on the more important task beside her long-term plan for revenging the deaths of her comrades by her hands. She noticed it looked like they added a lot more cameras, this could imply the Labs being short staffed and they were having Peacock watching the Lab's outer and possibly inner defenses. That could easily be countered when she decided to go out and search for Marie when she has another surge in power which if she was not mistaken due very soon.
Suddenly a heavy crash landed right behind her. Valentine turned her head expecting to see a possibly reshaped Double. Instead it was a heavy smoke cloud. Knowing that this threat was probably going to try and kill her unlike Double's orders and demands. It was then she saw an all too familiar set of blades attached to a tube connected to the black mass. Though hidden under her mask Valentine's scarred lip was smirking at the figure as it were a long-lost pet. "Experiment Eighty-four, it's been a while. Still suffering from Migraines?"
The smoke settled from Painwheel's landing. "Valentine!" Her voice was pulled in from anger. One thing the nurse noticed looking at her monster was the tone of her voice was a lot smoother suggesting she had for the time being regained some of her once sweet and innocent voice before her screams turned into a raspy mess. Curious given she had disappeared after Parasoul stumbled on her a while back. She was certain Brain Drain still remained deep within her subconscious but that said she was a fighter and had a surprisingly strong will working in her favor something that made her want to see what caused such a shift in her paradigm.
"I must admit you where not on the list of people I was seeing today, but you have been long overdue." A tone that came off with a heavy taste of contempt to her.
"Cut the crap." Painwheel growled angrily her eyes where focused if Valentine where to guess Brain Drain only recently managed to get back into her head and her mental wall were overly prepared. "Where is she?"
This made Valentine more curious since this is the first time she had not actively lashed out at her or demand for Brain Drain's location which even she didn't know. "If you're referring to the Skullgirl I have not the faintest Idea. But don't think I'm the bad guy we share that enemy with each other after all." The tone was sarcastically innocent. Both knew that Painwheel could see the Skullgirl's energy signatures like cartoon stench-lines on her.
"I don't give a damn about the Skullgirl right now!" A response that surprised nurse completely. Somehow, she was ignoring objectives rather than just resisting. Whatever mental training she was must have made this monster a task for Brain Drain given the amount of fighting he always had to do before breaking free.
"Well this is new." Valentine coldly remarked not sure where this could go. "If you are not here for her and clearly not interested in revenge." She turned away from Painwheel curious as to who she maybe looking for. "Yet I clearly had something to do with it."
"Don't give me That!" Painwheel was clearly soothing her rage but it was under hard restraints. "where the hell did you take Yang?"
"Yang?" Valentine stopped to think. She never meant anyone named Yang to her knowledge. "I think you have the wrong Nurse. Now if you excuse me, I have a raid to plan so if you don't have business with me scram." She continued to watch ASGL headquarters completely ignoring Painwheel.
"You where there." The monster's tone began to grow ominously dark. "Your darts where at her crime scene."
("Darts?") Valentine asked herself. She began to recall when she had to throw needles. She was lost in thought to ignore the next set of what she thought where only empty threats as she thought about why she threw several of her syringes. Her eyes lite up when she remembered earlier that day she had lured a blonde teenager slightly older than Painwheel's school files once read. Just then her sixth-sense warned her of a massive surge of bloodlust behind her. She reacted by pulling her Bone saw out of its holster and parry a heavy strike from a blade that dropped with the force of a broadsword. If it was not military grade she was certain that the hacksaw she had would have been snapped in two. Painwheel was right beside her glaring at her for the first time in a very long time Valentine noticed that She was not wearing her mask. In front of her could only be described as the sin for going against what Last Hope stood for: Protecting the Weak from monsters.
Painwheel's mask when removed showed the severely scarred and stitched face of the school girl a year prior an angry glare that showed her teeth more than likely under heavy pressure from her bottom jaw clamed to the rest of her head with the force of a beartrap. Her name if Valentine's memory served was Carol.
"I seem to recall your friend now." Valentine spoke up calmly. "But I've had a bad incident with a client, so I feel like taking walk-ins today." She jumped away from Carol. She re-postured herself and holstered her hacksaw to its holster but never removed her hand from it's handle. She crouched a little waiting for the first strike.
Carol looked at Valentine annoyed as she removed her bandanaed mask and placed it over her face. It was clear that the persona inside her never changed more than likely it was just force of habit to her. The two already knew that she was not going to get her desired information without fighting for it.
Valentine kept her ground. Knowing in general from watching Painwheel fight that she tends to simply ignore protecting herself and head first without thinking at her opponent. Sure, enough her prediction was right. Painwheel charged full force at her leaving her self-wide open. Valentine took time to fill a syringe with a greenish serum. A bio-infection she used a lot when she did work at ASGL. She was halfway through when her creation lunged at her with a powerful elbow to her face.
A puff of smoke surrounded Painwheel as she looked for her quarry. Valentine often played deceptive tricks on her opponents to disorient the individual, a tactic she probably used on Yang no doubt. She began to look around searching for the missing individual until footsteps came right past her from behind. She turned around and dropped her four swords into the ground creating small cracks that were several inches thick. She missed another missed direction. Her arm began to feel heavy causing her to turn and look at it. In her arm was a syringe, it looked like she got poisoned by Valentine, but it seemed to be only minor probably would wear off in a few seconds. Another set of quick moving footsteps came right at the currently stunned Painwheel. She turned again to only see a white glove full palm into her face. She stumbled backwards from the blow as a scalpel flew right past her bouncing harmlessly of her blades. The Nurse then connected a second disabling blow to Painwheel's shoulder dislocating it from its position. She finished the barrage by flip backwards and kicking Painwheel upwards. She landed with a solid thud much to her shock.
Valentine watched half amused at her creation struggle to get up. "How could Brain Drain been so foolish to have selected you for this project?" She began to ask watching Carol struggle to get up from her attack. "Two of the most dangerous artificial parasites ever created, months of combat training and enough surgeries and medical experiments to reduce your nerve endings to mere pulp." She watched the girl get up still something she anticipated. "Frankly, you are a disappointment on multiple levels." She stood there unphased at the fact she was relying on Buer Drive for support. She watched for a bit before turning to walk away.
A crunch came from behind her causing her to turn is shock. Painwheel ad relocated her arm with minimal effort. "There is one thing you forgot Valentine…" Painwheel's voice was showing signs of rage beginning to break free from its shackles. "You dragged me into this." She stood now on her own two feet her heavy four bladed weapon now above the ground suspended by it's cord. "And it won't be today, but I will kill you for what you did." The black holes of her mask began to glow a heavy red.
Valentine could tell that the Murder install program had taken affect. She doubted she could out run it. She knew the more troubling fight was about to begin. "I suppose your right about my actions." A calm and calculated response. "But I do not regret my choices."
"Poor choice of words."
Carol ran right at Valentine yet again in the same type of rage as before. Again, she side stepped her only to jump back a foot when a barbed metallic spike crashed out the side of her shoulder to ward off her counter attack. Valentine looked at her situation with minimal concern, but she began to notice it seemed like even though she was angry her attacks were less mindless. Something in Painwheel's tactics seemed different.
"you brat." Valentine groaned realizing what had happened. "So, you want to play mind games with me." She began to find the irony of the slasher villain lulling her into a false sense of security for a moment. A trick that was not going to work again. Painwheel's fist came right at Valentine this time she countered by wrapping surgical tape around her joint to restrict her movement. Painwheel seemed unfazed by it as her muscle mass tensed up the weaken its bondage. Valentine attempted several quick strikes at a few pressure points on Painwheel's legs. A pointless effort since as she stated before, her nerve endings where effectively destroyed she wouldn't feel precise strikes like that unless they were in more critical areas such as the eyes and maybe the nose. She was going to have to brute force this match against a creature that can't feel anything outside of heavy strikes.
Painwheel flung her leg forward kicking Valentine into the air. She then grabbed her leg and disjointed it to allow room for a metallic spike to protrude from her skin. Valentine was fast enough to open a body bag and use it as a kite to get behind the rampaging monstrosity. She glared at the annoying metallic blades as they began to rotate fast enough to block off any kind of counter attack on her. "This is getting old fast." She muttered annoyed filling a new dose into a fresh syringe. She got ready to for Painwheel's next attack.
Painwheel turned to her side and thrusted one of heavy blades down at Valentine who barely countered with her hacksaw again. The look on Valentine's face seeing it withstand yet another powerful strike seemed to impress her. Painwheel however dropped a second blade. This one while still on the saw came close to Valentine's arm. She quickly dropped the baton stance to adopt a new posture to with stand the next two strikes. The third blade landed at the handle barely missing the nurse's fingers by a narrow gap. She rearranged her holding of the saw again grabbing it be the end with the metallic teeth. They both could tell the fourth strike was going to hurt her but unsure of how badly.
The last blade dropped as Valentine closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She could feel a nasty burning feeling in the palm of her hand though based on how deep the blades went she wagered it was only a minor injury. Valentine opened her eye to see Painwheel's hand grab her by the throat and lift her one handed into the air. The two's gaze where locked on each other.
"So, you have been busy. I must admit the results are stunning I'll need to get a sample later." The small talk from the nurse was annoying to the monster as she glared her down. She rolled her eyes. "Fine fine, The blonde. You of all should have guessed where to look. As if Brain Drain would change its location." She scoffed at the heavy breathing creature in front of her.
"I've waited along time for this moment." Painwheel spoke it was clear what her intentions where.
"Sorry to disappoint you Carol, but I have a schedule to keep." Valentine spoke up dropping a cloud of white powder causing a smoke bomb-based effect. It blinded Painwheel Before jamming a syringe into her arm it resulted in her letting go from the dazing powder surrounding her. She flung her blade wildly before her sight came back to her. Painwheel Glared angrily looking for Valentine before looking at her blade. It was stained in crimson. She wiped it off before jumping toward the warehouses of New Meridian.
Valentine walked out from behind a flower bed once the coast became clear. Her last-minute ditch effort went off almost seamlessly. Distracting her with baby powder followed by placing a numbing anesthetic slowed her down enough for a narrow escape. She looked down toward her lower stomach though to see a tear in her now red uniform. She sighed with relief it may have been a nasty injury, but it was one that only needed a few stiches. She watched the shadowed outline of Painwheel jumping off into the sunset. She could feel the façade she had to put up drop almost bringing her to her knees. Some tears were coming from her one good eye while the bandage in the other absorbed them.
"Chief Nurse Christmas was right about me. I always had a soft side." She laughed at herself deprecation, her face twitched a little as pain went through her injury. "I expect my sins to catch up to me one day comrades." She began to speak up toward the sky thinking oh her fallen unit. "Most likely by my biggest mistake will be the one to end me. But I must make sure that your will be avenged before Carol comes to take my life." She grabbed a first aid kit she had close by and slowly got to work mending the damage that Painwheel had done to her.
Baset's den
Emerald walked back into the club to see Eliza in the middle of a music number. She had to admit that for being a monster she had a beautiful voice for music. She sat down to listen still reflecting on her encounter with Minette. She was not sure if her words hold any form of wisdom to them or if she was simply a naïve aquatic girl that looked more animalistic than a Faunus. Her mind was distracted to see her partner Mercury sit next to her.
"So, you finally decide to show up finally." Mercury spoke up to finally get her attention. Emerald looked at him seemed unphased she rolled her eyes and looked back at the table. "Again, with this silence, I thought you were the friendly one."
Emerald glared at him before looking for Cinder. "What happened to Cinder?" She asked concerned by her not being on shift as Eliza had put it when they first came to their hide out.
"She's still in the bathhouse. Eliza isn't happy with her though. Grumbled about burnt tile or something when she came out."
She sighed with a bit of relief. She turned to listen to the club host still in the middle of her number. Mercury could tell whatever was troubling her the singer was at the center of it. "Alright what's the problem?" He finally asked tired of the silent contemplation.
Emerald sighed before looking at him. "Do get the feeling there is more to this gift she wants to give us?" Mercury raised an eyebrow curious as to what she meant. "Something about this power as she put it has me concerned I don't know why." She could tell that deep down her gut was telling her there was more to this power Eliza had offered.
"We held up our end of the deal now she must comply with her end. So far, I'd say she's been mostly on the level with us." Mercury's tone though distrusting of the host was one of honesty.
"I suppose you're right, Cinder still can be trusted then." Emerald try to reassure herself of it.
Mercury leaned back a bit as he held out two fingers which a waiter nodded and headed to the bar. "Exactly nothing to worry about."
Emerald nodded though her eyes mind was still weary of the thought. "I think I may try to eat out tonight." Mercury looked at her confused. "I ran into someone that recommended a diner in a section called Little Innsmouth. Might be worth seeing."
Mercury shrugged not thinking much on the idea. "You do you I'll watch over here in case something comes up." It seemed he bought into it he was beginning to let his guard down.
This was a long time in the making (I'm not even kidding I had most of this planned out since February.) Um, don't be surprised if I go another long period of time with out posting. I'll get to it, eventually. But I'd rather have quality over quantity. I would like to see at least this project done since I hate leaving things incomplete.