For the Love of Evil

[Skylar]

Ooc note: Due to the original story being lost with the departure of the maker from the forum, James and I have decided to take the story a different route, with just our two characters. I have chosen a point in the first thread of the story where James and I will be picking up our own. Any questions about this and that, feel free to message me.

The sound of the glass breaking was so loud that she, on impulse, looked upward in time to see it falling toward her. Luckily, she was quick enough to cover her eyes, but the shards, without mercy sliced through the flesh that was not covered. Her cheek burned....her arm screamed with pain, and small more sharp pieces stuck out of her leg.

Her screams filled the air around them, and she could see neither man now. So much had happened so quickly. Who was this man that found it necessary to ruin her one perfect day!? And where had Xavier gotten to? Shouldn't he be sweeping down to rescue her by now?

Placing her hands down, she realized that the glass was everywhere, and her right leg throbbed from the glass now embedded within it. She wanted to move, to get somewhere she could hide, but she certainly wasn't going to drag herself across the glass ridden floor.

Deeply she inhaled and with a mind shattering screen she stood up, making her way to the edge of the building. She had noticed a small unit to the side, for air conditioning or something. Good enough for her to hide behind none the less.

[Syntaphar]

Dario, still hanging from the ledge trying to shake off the pain in his shoulders and face, pulled himself back onto the edge. His eyes roamed the area for Gottheit, but found surprisingly few people. He hated trying to assassinate people with wings. He was honestly worried that this whole building was about to come down, and he had no idea why. All he knew was that widespread breaking glass meant that the building was not long for this town. He was getting out of there. Or at least he was, until he saw Xavier's date hiding, injured and behind an air conditioning unit. This wasn't her day to die, he figured, though he hated himself for what he was about to do.

He dashed over to her, inspecting her wounds quickly. They weren't grievous, but she likely wasn't thinking straight, and wouldn't be able to easily evacuate. He put a hand on her shoulder and yelled over what commotion there was left. "Come on, lady, we don't got much time! This building is coming down, and unless you come with me, you're going down with it! I know its been a weird day n' all, but I can get you to safety!"

He only hoped that she would be able to accept his offer despite the fact he was basically a total stranger. And her wounds. And her likely inability to think straight. And the fact that he tried to murder her date for money.

...Damn.

[Skylar]

Shaking, she plucked the tiny shards from her leg, gasping between clinched teeth. “God dammit!” She could feel the blood running down her cheek, but she had blood all over her hands, so wiping it off would be a waste really.

Oddly enough, she didn't noticed the man beside her until he spoke, and when he did, it scared the shit outta her. She tried to flee before he finished his words, and then she paused. She didn't wanna die, but she didn't want his help either. He could have killed her!

“A weird day!? Are you kidding me right now!?” She looked around them, and immediately noticed he was right though, the building did not look stable. “Son of a bitch....” She averted her eyes toward him, looking him over. He wasn't exactly in tip top shape himself...and if he planned on killing her, why would he offer to help her out of a building that would do it for him?

“Fine...lets go.”

[Syntaphar]

Dario was honestly surprised that she wasn't less cooperative. With that in mind, he looked over their egress options. The stairs were likely no good. In the building's new state of disrepair, they wouldn't be safe. Other methods wouldn't be either, but they would be clearly unsafe instead of simply prone to collapse. The elevator was a deathtrap by this point, and he would be very surprised if it was not already crashed at the bottom of the shaft. the ductwork wasn't even worth considering.

With that, he looked over the edge of the building. they were very high up right now, high enough that if he had let go earlier and fallen, he would have died regardless of his interesting arms and legs. However, there was another building of slightly lower height off the east wall... it was incredibly stupid but no more stupid than staying where they were. He turned to the lady with a grim look on his face. "This isn't going to sound good, but lemme assure you, the alternative is probably death. That building over behind my shoulder has a roof access door, and more importantly is not falling down. Even with your injuries, I think you can make it there, especially if I go first and catch you. Whaddaya say?"

He tried not to crack a smile, despite the rush he was getting from all of this. Otherwise, she might think he was joking.

[Skylar]

The look on her face would say it all before she could even open her mouth. “Are you fucking serious right now? I can't even get my ass up off the ground....” She shook her head looking around once more. Sadly, he was right though, which only pissed her off more.

“This day...just keeps getting better and better.” Her words were more for herself then to the strange man. Pulling her sleeve down over her hand, she brushed away the glass in a space big enough for her hand, and there she planted it firmly. With a grunt, and a rather unattractive, yet obviously painful scream, she hoisted herself up while leaning against the unit behind her.

“Damn..” She hobbled around a bit, her one leg of her jeans stained in multiple places from the tiny stab wounds. “This is bullshit, and I blame you. Just so you know.” She was beyond feisty, he may be wishing he had just left without her after this...

“How far do I have to jump?” She reached up and brushed her hair from her face. This...this was going to hurt like hell...

[Syntaphar]

Dario looked back over his shoulder onto the roof. "It isn't all that far. Maybe eight feet out and ten feet down. I know you hurt, but you can't let it get to you. Try to imagine that you are watching yourself jump from the outside, like you aren't even there, feeling the pain. And know that I will be there to catch you." Dammit, Dario was supposed to be this infamous assassin, and here he was, rescuing his target's date. But, he couldn't well leave her to die, could he?

Without a further thought, he lept gracefully from the roof, arms out to right himself in mid air, and impacted the roof with a tight roll. One of the things he loved about not having his own arms and legs was that they never hurt him. As long as they didn't literally break, he could do whatever he wanted with them. And he could always replace them. He dusted himself off and looked worriedly at the crumbling building.

"Jump, miss! You don't have much time!"

[Skylar]

“How do you always get yourself into this kinda shit Frankie...”She took a deep breath and looked at the space she had to jump. She'd have to get a running start, and that in itself was going to be hard. Nodding, she backed up a few feet, hearing the building creak all around her.

It doesn't hurt...it doesn't hurt.... Before she knew it she had launched herself off the building and it immediately seemed like a bad idea. Her life was literally in the hands of a stranger....a stranger that tried to kill her, and possibly did kill the only man that was genuinely nice to her.

[Syntaphar]

Dario was watching the foundation of the building uneasily just before she jumped. Luckily it wasn't falling away, making her jump further, or forward, endangering their safe haven. It seemed to be falling off to the right, instead. He hoped that there wasn't anyone inside. Except Gottheit. He hoped Gottheit was still inside. He sighed to himself as he realized that the things he hoped for were consistently the least likely things to actually happen. He also realized that Xavier's date was soaring through the air at him, and he scrambled to catch her.

Unless something went badly wrong, Dario would snatch her out of the air. However, as he did, he would hear a dreadful popping sound. Or maybe a cracking sound? Either way, it probably didn't mean anything positive. He just hoped that these limbs made it to safety. Setting Xavier's date gingerly down, he looked at her and said: "You know, with our luck tonight, I bet there aren't any people allowed in this building we're standing on. And I certainly didn't see any fire escapes. So if we're going to be sneaking through this building together, shouldn't I at least get your name?"

[Skylar]

You know the feeling you get when you're walking up stairs in the dark and you think there's one more, but there isn't? That's exactly how Frankie felt as she was flying through the air towards the man. It was hardly with ease that he caught her, but catch her he did at least. It jolted her body enough to knock the air out of her slightly, but other then that she was scathed no more then she already was.

She heard the noise, and knew it had to be him, she wondered if he was alright, but was unwilling to look caring enough to ask, nor did she thank him.

Tearing the corner of her shirt off, she spat on it, and wiped the blood from her face. She had to look horrible....not that she cared or anything..

She looked down at her leg, and couldn't see anymore glass sticking out of her pants, but she could still feel it in her flesh, it seemed however, that it would have to remain there longer though...

“Our luck?” Her words were a bit sharp, and she was obviously annoyed. “My luck was just fine until you had to ruin the only good time I could remember having.” She tossed the piece of cloth on the roof were they stood. He did make one point..they would be together. Some how she felt like she was stuck with him, though he hadn't forced her to go with him.

Through narrowed eyes she started at him as she walked passed him and toward the only door she saw. It was locked tightly with a pad lock. Plucking a bobby pin from her hair, she placed it in her mouth and bent it slightly. Sliding the two ends into the lock, a few jiggles and a few curse words later, the locked popped open.

“Call me Frankie.”

[Syntaphar]

He listened to her sharp words with a half-bored expression. He'd heard it all in this line of work. He looked over at the door they needed to get into and saw a rather durable padlock on it. He was just about to pull out a set of lockpicks he had stashed when Frankie beat him unexpectedly to the punch. He watched with great interest as she opened the lock that barred their progress. He thought to himself that there was quite a bit more to this woman than there appeared to be.

He responded to the name he gave her with a bit of a monologue, a smile on his face as he delved into the comforting world of cliche. "Alright Frankie, you can call me Dario. And as for your luck, you clearly don't know what you were getting yourself into right there. When you're with a hero, it's always nice at the start. But sooner or later, someone comes and tries to kill him, and usually either tries to hold you prisoner to get the hero to submit, or just kills you outright, leaving the hero to kill the villain and live out his melodramatic life. Of course that clearly wasn't my approach, but I can't say I consider myself much of a villain. You're welcome to disagree.

"And furthermore, there's something else going on here. That building is falling down. I don't know about you, but I doubt even Gottheit was strong enough to rip the whole thing down just by messing up the floor we were on. no, I think someone sabotaged this building somehow, and I think I'm going to start investigating why as soon as we get to safety." With that, he pulled a loose pipe off the wall inside the doorway and offered it to Frankie.

"If we run into anyone, you might need this, Frankie. And it's nice to meet you, by the way."

[Skylar]

It effected her none that he seemed to care less how she spoke to him, in fact it was kinda fun. However, she did not disagree with him, although he welcomed her to do so. And it was obvious that he was inviting her along with him even still. She wasn't sure how to take this man, Dario.

Slipping the padlock off the door, she locked the lock back up and slid the ring of it over her middle finger, resting the biggest part in her palm. Slowly, she curled her fingers around it, making a fist. It would work nicely if need be.

She looked at the pipe, and slowly bent down, sliding a few throwing knives from within. “I'm good thanks.” She flashed him an over dramatic smile, that melted away as quickly as it came.

She pushed the bobby pin back in her hair, and held her hand out toward the door, offering him to go first. “After you......Dario.”

[Syntaphar]

Dario watched with far more interest than when he received her sharp words when she turned the padlock into a makeshift weapon. That was very clever of her, and it gave Dario the idea that Xavier had no idea what he was getting into with this woman. In fact, he didn't know what he was getting into either, but at least he knew that he didn't know... or something to that effect. He wouldn't ask at this point, but he wondered where she learned these tricks.

His eyes grew wide when he saw her draw the throwing knives. Something was really nagging at his stomach about this. Was she also an assassin sent to kill Xavier? No, she wouldn't have revealed her hand like this... but then what was Dario missing? He decided not to think too much on the subject. That never seemed to be the right way to do things. He simply returned her smile and stowed the pipe in his jacket. Who knew, maybe it would come in handy as a splint if he actually broke a limb.

He decided to get ready for a fight as well, drawing the glove off of his right hand. If Frankie looked closely, she would see that it in no way matched the rest of his skin tone as revealed, and seemed to have thin string coating it, running in and out of the skin like untightened needlework. With her invitation to continue, he went down to the bottom of the short staircase inside and propped an ear against the seemingly unlocked door.

"Frankie, I think I hear voices. This could turn ugly."

[Skylar]

She in fact did notice his flesh looked peculiar. In fact, it looked...unreal? If that's even how she wanted to describe it. But, whatever really. She couldn't concern herself about all that now as he was already at the bottom of the stairs.

Silently, she followed him, keeping close to him as she approached him. She wondered if this would make him nervous, when he turned to see her right up against his back...but then again, she didn't care.

It almost made her giddy to think of the things that could be running though his mind. She was sure he was wondering what kinda woman carried throwing knives, and what kinda woman used a padlock as a weapon.

She was that kinda woman.

“I don't mind ugly...”

[Syntaphar]

Dario indeed wondered what sort of woman Frankie was. But he didn't have much time to consider it either. He whispered back "Well I'm glad. Because this building really could be anything. It wasn't obvious from the outside. Could be a nice hotel, could be a top secret research facility. The voices could be waiters with room service carts, or they could be armed guards with weapons trained on this door. Either way, I don't think we can be seen here, so stick to the shadows."

Dario, in his all black clothing, had a bit of an advantage when it came to skulking, but he liked to think he was practiced at this point. He turned the doorknob so slowly and carefully with his gloved hand that it barely whispered a click in protest. As he opened it, a widening swath of light cast itself over the adjoining wall. He peered around, and came back to tell Frankie what he saw in a tiny whisper. "I see one man standing, and I think a man just left. Seems easy to assume he'll be back at some point, we probably oughta be gone when he is. The man appears to be tough, but not a guard, and his back is to the door. I've got this one."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an H shaped piece of metal with a cut through the center. He pulled it apart, and two spring-coils of durable wire inside the vertical bars unraveled to form a garrote. He opened the door again, snuck behind the man and quickly wrapped the wire around his neck, just enough to temporarily restrict blood flow to his brain. He clawed at his neck and tried silently not to scream, and actually got a good elbow or two back into Dario. Finally however, he fell to the ground unconscious, with bruises already forming in a circle around his neck.

"Before you ask, he's fine. Let's keep moving."

[Skylar]

She did as he told her. Her lithe form backed up against the wall, pad lock tightly secure in one hand. She, too wore darker clothes. A black shirt and dark jeans, not to mention her hair was also black. The only thing that might stand out on her within the shadows was her creamy pale complextion.

She nodded to his words. He can have “this one”, she wasn't to worried. In fact, she was less stressed out now then she was when she was in a falling building.

After the man was a pile on the floor, she moved closer to Dario, not even passing a second glance to the other man. She was aware he was fine, and even if he wasn't, so be it. She wanted to get outta this place, get somewhere safe and inspect her wounds. And maybe find out more about the man that she now followed.