Vesper Infection

[Valencia Donahue]

Just like that, William plucked Valencia right off of the fence as if she was a kitty cat stuck up in a tree getting rescued by a firefighter. Admittedly, she was clinging relatively tightly to the metallic links almost in anticipation of possibly falling off, so her eyes were closed for the time being until she heard her ally’s voice reassuring her. She slowly opened her eyes one at a time and got the opportunity to see her scheme succeed before realizing that she was being carried away from the scene of the crime. Carried… Away… From the scene of the crime. Gee, one of these days, Valencia will inadvertently destroy the world via mass property damage. She can’t help it if her profession as a stuntwoman encourages crazy destruction! But that aside, Valencia was relieved that she was being taken away from the mess the second she saw more and more people arrive upon the carnage. Flee the scene and don’t get caught with the blame. She has been doing that for a long while now with her nutsy friends and pulled off a Carmen Sandiego each time until… Eheh… MacMillan and fate decided to change that. Lastly, the carrying.

There’s something oddly fun about being carried if the situation is juuuuusstt right… But right now, it wouldn’t hurt if I were on my own two feet instead.

Once William put her down, Valencia dusted herself off and caught sight of her other two comrades who got out of the melee for the most part unscathed. She couldn’t help but laugh a little when Dante uttered how “fun” that ordeal was. On hindsight, it was exhilarating. Valencia was soaked to the bone and felt as though she was wearing several pounds of clothing, but remedied it quickly by not filling her head with such petty concerns. No time to worry about that when there’re other things to do. She faced the direction of the school, wondering what was going on at the moment, but gave a fair guess at it…

“If I know Agon well enough, he must’ve found a way to flee the scene as well. I can’t precisely say the same for his buddies, but I know Agon is bright enough to act quickly.”

Valencia then turned to face the group, though not looking at anyone in particular.

“Aaaaannnyyways, I don’t think we’ll be dealt with too badly should they catch us if we know how to play our cards right…”

I know for a fact that I’ll be absolutely fine… Pheh…

“Ehh… I do apologize for your jacket, Dante.”

Then she closed her eyes as a flash and a rumble happened before continuing. When she reopened them, she indicated towards William’s direction to address him because she didn’t quite catch his name.

“And my apologies that you weren’t able to speak with my ex, but whatever information you may need, I’m willing to give you in return for your assistance and goodwill.”

Lastly, Valencia turned to the other stranger and nodded to him. She didn’t know what else to say since she wasn’t sure how he got into her mess in the first place.

As for the rest? Back in the main building, Ruth eventually put an end to smashing up Agon’s current girlfriend and pushed her out of the window to make her own “guerilla warfare-like” getaway the moment she sensed that trouble was going to arrive. Don’t worry, they were on the ground floor, so the girlfriend fell into some nice mud to break her fall. Ruth on the other hand was worried out of her mind for Valencia as she dashed against the sides of lockers and slinked her way to the girl’s bathroom, knowing fully well that climbing out the window in there would lead to a shortcut to the apartments where Gladys would be if she wasn’t elsewhere.

The slew of gangsters were for the most part stunned or trapped under the fence in a tangled mass depending on who was next to him before falling onto him. Agon was hardly anywhere to be found when the faculty arrived to deal with the hoodlums, but some witnesses would say that he made his way out of the chaos during a flash of lightning. Whatever the case may be, Agon knew deep down that his conflict with his ex would be far from over and a ways off, Valencia would have to agree.

((OOC: Pardon in advance if I misinterpreted Kit’s post, eh? Lemme know if anything needs fixing… Especially since the time-space continuum may get wonky depending on certain responses…))

[William Fletcher]

ooc: Muuuch shorter than my previous ones, but enjoy.

ic:

Taking a few steps to the side, his eyes looking back at the school as the rain began to lighten, if only slightly, he regained his breath and composure in a few long, slow and steady motions. His eyes closed a moment, his palms reaching up to his face as the longer locks of hair that had flung themselves forward, clinging to his cheeks and forehead, were swept back and his head shaken quickly. He was neat enough, but he hated his hair being kept in place and pristine. The rogue strands though, they'd grown a little annoying. On top of that, the spattered droplets of blood that remained on his face...He'd felt the tacky stickiness as he'd swept the hair away and paused only a moment before taking a few steps to the side of the sidewalk, kneeling down and scooping his palm into a puddle, raising his hand and letting the water trickle through his fingers.

'Good, it's clean enough...'

Repeating the action, he scooped up a small handful of the rainwater and splashed it against his face, wiping away the streaked trails of blood that marred his face like tears before he turned to Valencia again, nodding as she spoke to him. Taking the opportunity as it presented itself, he gave his palm one last cursory sweep across his face, blinking a moment before he approached her a little closer. His business coincided with her through fate, but the others were not involved, nor would he allow them to be. His issues with the schools football team were personal enough, though the reason behind it was perhaps somewhat self-serving. He paused a foot or so away from her, his monstrous palms slipped into the pockets of his scuffed, battered shirt. A tear where he'd been grounded by Agon earlier gaped loosely in the left sleeve, and he could feel chill at his side. His eyes glanced down at the nick that he'd sustained, most likely from a prong of the fences wire as he'd dashed off and grabbed the girl. His shirt had a slash in it, maybe three or four inches long, and a neat slice into his waist from the wire as well. It wasn't bleeding much though, probably just a deep scratch if anything else.

"First off, my apologies for intrudin' where my presence was not merited. Despite the turn of events, it wasn't my place to involve in yer own fight. However, if ye can tell me, I need t' know where I can find the schools football team. Places they go on their own, where they live, ways I can get them without the entire team at their back. Also, whilst I appreciate that it's yer fight and no' mine, yer ex is one of them. That makes him a target on my list, and though I can respect yer desire to deal with him yerself, I can't promise much if I come across him first..."

His words were even and calm, but he was emphasising it very clearly that he wasn't about to change his opinion. Whilst he had helped her here because she had been in the need of assistance, he was by no means the dashing prince in anyones tale...

"One question...I've had some troublesome exes in the past, lasses who just didn't know the meaning of 'its done', but I never had one try t' kill me before...Mind if I ask just what the deal is there...?"

Still closer to her, his voice lower than before, he caught her gaze expectantly. He'd ended up fighting a guy earlier who was by no means a pushover in the name of saving her neck, he was curious and had no intention of dropping the matter without a fight....Figuratively speaking, in any case.

[Valencia Donahue]

“Honest to goodness, I haven’t been in touch with the football team in a while and the information I’ll give you might be outdated, but it’s worth a shot if they haven’t changed some of their habits.”

Valencia closed her eyes and went into her memory banks to sift about for answers, finding it easier as the thunder and lightning generally grew more infrequent and the sound of raindrops soothed her nonetheless. After a brief span of time passed, she felt like she got enough information and gave it as promised. She was a lady of her word.

“Some of them frequent Pier 39, the Fisherman’s Wharf… Though, most likely on the days they don’t have practice. There’s a Wax Museum where one of the linebackers like to scare tourists late at night when they venture to the ‘Chamber of Horrors’… Preferably girls, last I’ve heard, but most of them bring their boyfriends so he might’ve given up on the hobby. He never scares me though. He’s usually behind the pillar next to the Crypt Keeper or against the wall next to the fake electric chair on the way to the room.”

Thank gawd for Valencia and her ability to detect people before they can detect her. The first time she got spooked into petrifaction, she was lucky that Ruth gave the linebacker the most painful and loudest slug in the face you’d ever hear around 10 PM. Gladys gave him the most painful and loudest kick in the nuts you’d ever hear around 10:01 PM.

“There’s a receiver who hangs around the ‘Pearl Factory’, mostly to use the same old pick up lines on window-shopping girls. ‘You know, it’s truly a pity that stuff sits in the window instead of on a beautiful girl.’ It has a 51% chance of working, judging by each time I heard it, but then again… Most of them were tourists. He heads home around 6 PM and tends to head home behind the buildings if he isn’t with another girl.”

Then again, that receiver probably stopped his shenanigans since the time Valencia performed outside and something happened. Gladys hung around to watch her, leading to her being hit upon by said receiver, then the receiver got sucker punched by Ruth because he was hitting on her girlfriend.

“A cornerback hangs out with his friends at the ‘La Salsa’ Mexican grill on Tuesdays. He tries not to seem like a geek, but anyone who eats there can hear him talking about Star Trek stuff. He tends to come late, then leaves early. His friends don’t mind at all though. He likes to people-watch on the bench closest to the carousel and does this ‘til really late into the night...”

Valencia personally thought he was a decent guy… Though, what really ruined him was the image he was trying to maintain. “Ungeeky” and “works with the Pillars”. THAT’S the image. People ought to be themselves, but that sure gets tricky as life goes on.

“Those are the few that come to mind… I’m more likely to be at Pier 39 than anywhere else, so I don’t really know too much about the others who don’t go there as often. Especially the quarterbacks. As for my ex, do as you will. I’ll just take on whatever’s left of him. There’s no such thing as stuff like ‘honor’ with people like him.”

Then, William asked about Valencia’s relation with Agon on a more personal level. Thank goodness it wasn’t about how their relationship was before the break up, but it still had to do with the fact that her ex tried to kill her… A rather touchy subject nonetheless. Valencia sighed partially and ran her fingers through her soggy, golden hair, figuring that by saving her life, she owed them enough of an explanation to make up for all the inconveniences.

“Good student by day, gang member by night. I moonlight. But after some… Unpleasant string of events, I wanted out. At first, he let me go ‘civilly’ because I was the first, but as more and more of his followers followed suit, he began to tighten the reins a tad. Some of his gang members were good fellows who’ve helped me when I required it, so I returned the favor by pulling them out of the gang little by little until we have what small numbers we may see from time to time in the halls or anywhere else in SanFran. My ex, Agon, surely ain’t one to be appreciative of what was happening to his gang, so…”

The rain was reduced to a drizzle by then when Valencia squeezed water out of her hair like a sponge.

“Voila. Lesson? What comes around, goes around, but there’ll always be times when something will try to turn it in the opposite direction. I do hope I’ve explained enough.”

…’Cause really, what Valencia described was just the surface and she really, REALLY didn’t want to go any deeper than that.

[dante]

“If I know Agon well enough, he must’ve found a way to flee the scene as well. I can’t precisely say the same for his buddies, but I know Agon is bright enough to act quickly.” was the first sentence of dialogue Dante's ears would hear, perking up slightly at them as Valencia turned toward the others nearby including himself.

“Aaaaannnyyways, I don’t think we’ll be dealt with too badly should they catch us if we know how to play our cards right…” she added, not directly speaking to anyone just making it a general statement. Dante's smirk would grow slightly bigger at this comment, the Poker addict inside of him laughing at the remark,

'I ALWAYS play my cards right.' he thought, not entirely true but for the most part it was. But that was for another day, now what mattered was the current situation. With all that fighting as well as a bit of collateral damage for the fence perhaps, suspensions were easily in order and more likely than not, lots of 'corrective' punishment,

“Ehh… I do apologize for your jacket, Dante.” was another statement made by Valencia, Dante turning his head toward her and raising his right eyebrow for just a moment. It would soon drop though as he shrugged his shoulders lightly and snickered just a tad,

"Don't worry about it, I can always get it fixed." he replied, attempting to assure Valencia that no apologies were neccassary. It kept her alive in the end and a life over his jacket was a trade he'd be willing to make anyday,

'A life is far more important than a jacket regardless of sentimental value... espically...' he thought as he took a deep breath, letting himself rest just a tad since they had finally stopped somewhere safe... for the time being anyways,

“And my apologies that you weren’t able to speak with my ex, but whatever information you may need, I’m willing to give you in return for your assistance and goodwill." was shot toward William's direction, Dante letting his gaze fall upon William. Yes it was a mystery to him as to why William had helped exactly. All Dante knew was that William wanted info but what he wanted it for exactly was something Dante wanted to know,

"First off, my apologies for intrudin' where my presence was not merited. Despite the turn of events, it wasn't my place to involve in yer own fight. However, if ye can tell me, I need t' know where I can find the schools football team. Places they go on their own, where they live, ways I can get them without the entire team at their back. Also, whilst I appreciate that it's yer fight and no' mine, yer ex is one of them. That makes him a target on my list, and though I can respect yer desire to deal with him yerself, I can't promise much if I come across him first..." William would spiel, Dante sighing heavily at this point. All he could get from that was that William probably wanted revenge on the football team for something but what for was still an unanswered question,

"One question...I've had some troublesome exes in the past, lasses who just didn't know the meaning of 'its done', but I never had one try t' kill me before...Mind if I ask just what the deal is there...?" William would add as well not allowing Dante to try and think of some reasons why William wanted revenge exactly. Regardless, that question was quite a good one but considering Agon's gang affilation combined with his horrible personality, Dante felt sure on what the answer was,

'I think I will go out on a limb and guess what that answer is,' Dante thought right after, the orange orbs he called eyes burning with hatred and rage as his teeth gritted against each other, 'He's a stupid piece of shit gangbanger and probably tried the same to her or someone she is associated with.' he would guess, closing his eyes as he exhaled through his nose, doing his best to calm himself. It was quite a difficult thing to do due to his feelings toward the gang banger formely known as Agon... pure hatred. All he could think is the worst of him and was almost certain that his previous assumption was correct,

'Steve had that problem before so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that was the case.' he finished his train of thought with that, not having paid attention to anything about the football players. It didn't concern him after all so there was no reason for him to listen was there?

“Good student by day, gang member by night. I moonlight. But after some… Unpleasant string of events, I wanted out. At first, he let me go ‘civilly’ because I was the first, but as more and more of his followers followed suit, he began to tighten the reins a tad. Some of his gang members were good fellows who’ve helped me when I required it, so I returned the favor by pulling them out of the gang little by little until we have what small numbers we may see from time to time in the halls or anywhere else in SanFran. My ex, Agon, surely ain’t one to be appreciative of what was happening to his gang, so…Voila. Lesson? What comes around, goes around, but there’ll always be times when something will try to turn it in the opposite direction. I do hope I’ve explained enough.” that he did listen to though. He frowned slightly, hating the fact he was right but liking it at the same time. While he hated to know that one of his friends was stuck in this type of situation, it was far better than hearing it was a random attack,

"Well while I would like you to go a bit deeper," Dante started, "It is none of my business so I shall not pry. Just make sure you don't get yourself killed and call me for the next big brawl like that. Another broken rib sounds like a pretty good deal for me." he finished, getting back into his typical sarcastic persona to dull the pain and perhaps raise up a couple laughs,

'Just hope no one makes me laugh, with this broken rib that'll probably hurt like a bitch.' he thought depressingly, a melencholy smile gracing his features,

"I wonder though..." Dante mumbled to himself absent-mindly, not very audible except maybe to William if he had acute hearing, "are you going to beat him senseless... or... kill him?"

[Kit Lee]

Kit was eavesdropping upon the conversation between the asian girl and the Irishman after he had recieved a nod from the girl. Though none of this was really any of his business, Kit liked being aware of the situations he was placed in. He also liked being aware of the backgrounds of the people he went to school with, so he had somewhat of an idea what type of person they were should he ever need to interact with them. He had often put blind trust in people if he knew nothing about them, so it would be good to know what they were like.

It appeared that the Irishman had some dealings with the football players and the asian girl had some past with one of the football players. As the tale came to its end, the rain died down as well, as it changed from the waterfall it was a few minutes ago, to a light mist that was an annoyance like the swarming of one or two flies.

Kit took his leave, walking towards his dorm to change his clothes, as he had no place here, nor was one to further the conversation than it was already discussed. Shoud any actions be taken, that would be up to the Pillars. Not to mention, he was in the wrong as well for fighting though it was to cease the fighting, Kit was no Pillar.

[William Fletcher]

ooc: On Valencias request, I'm bringing this thread to a close. If anyone wants to post afterward, go ahead and whatever, I'm just doin what was asked of me ^^.

ic:

He listened with intent as he committed her words to memory. In the future, he would have to return to them and them alone when he needed to refresh his knowledge on what she had told him, considering if he were to begin writing things down, it would not look terribly good in his favour to argue against it. Moreso, the 'Pier 39' that she was referring to would probably be a good place to catch one or two of them very much off guard. For that matter, he would probably have to start there first and foremost.

"Thank you. I appreciate the help, lass. As for yer ex, ye've explained more than enough. No' my business, I was curious, is all..."

He sighed a slow, long breath and glanced toward the other two, particularly Dante a moment at the murmured words with a raised eyebrow. He had caught the remark easily enough but chose to say nothing else on it for the moment. He was one to show little restraint in a fight if it was a case of win or get hurt, but he knew outright that he was not about to kill someone. He was a brutal fighter, not a killer, nor was he even remotely capable of it. He could talk big and make threats like everyone else, but he banked on his size and presence adding the intimidation to that for him.

The other, much smaller male said nothing as he glanced over, and Will turned back to Valencia just a moment and fished into the inside of his coat pocket before producing his wallet. Fishing out a single dollar bill, he plucked a pen from the same pocket a moment later and scrawled a phone number on it before folding the small, green-dyed piece of paper and handing it to her.

"If ye happen to find anythin' else out, I'd really appreciate if ye'd be able t'let me know, lass. Otherwise, ye know where t' get a hold o' me, a'right?"

He gave her a brief smile and turned away, making a separate path from the small grouping with his eyes shifted toward Dante again. He said nothing, but the expression on his face was enough to speak volumes to the lad. He'd heard what had been said, and if Dante were capable of working out what was being put across, he would effectively work out what Will was mentally muttering.

"Don't be so fuckin' stupid. Besides, it's no yer problem..."

A moment later, he was with his back to the others, and with a cursory glane back, he continued away, pacing through the finer drizzle with his hands slipped in his pockets calmly...Making his way toward his dorm room, he looked around at the few who were walking throughout the courtyards of the housing area with umbrellas or coats pulled over their heads, he saw one couple probably around his age. The umbrella was one of those smaller things, designed for just one person, and despite that the two walked huddled into one another, seemingly oblivious to the fact that both were soaked from the shoulders down but smiling and chatting to one another with words he didn't hear. The image of the two was a sentimental one, a 'kodak moment' he'd heard some people say, and smiling to himself he passed them with his gaze back to the ground in front of him.

Even in a place like this, where horrible things could happen, sometimes you saw something like that that made you realise things weren't entirely fucked...

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