Rebuild of Full Armor 7 2.0: You Can (Not) Revise

Rebuild of Red Web City 2.0: You Can (Not) Revise

Saturday night had rolled into Sunday morning, but the festivities in the
Gilded Lily carried on. Dozens of voices, shouting to be heard above the
others and the Top 40 coming through the speakers, poured out of the open
doors and against the brownstones across the streets. A tipsy couple walked
arm-in-arm out of the bar and into the night, the air still stiff with
summer's heat.

"So which way is the bus stop?" the man asked. He walked with a confident
swagger, thickly set underneath his loose button-up shirt.

She was in a clingy black dress, dark hair pinned back. "Two blocks down,
back on Franklin Street." She pulled them around the corner, taking
cautious, wobbly steps. "But I'm not sure they run this late, do they?"

"Sure they do. Can't let the taxis - the taxis get all the money from us
drunk people, the bus people need their share."

"I never thought about it that way."

They walked by a wall, covered in dozens of paper hearts. Each one had a
picture of a child's face at its center, along with its own set of messages
tacked to it: prayers for their safety, family members begging for their
return, even angry missives about the inaction of the police in solving the
case. The two of them stepped gingerly around a pile of stuffed animals and
flowers that had built up at its base.

The woman's eyes lingered at the display as they passed. "You think they'll
ever find those kids?" she asked, the alcohol in her system giving her voice
an earnest edge.

"We'll get them soon, I just know it, and I'll be right there cuffing the
scum who took 'em. Detective Garcia is on the case!" said the man, puffing
himself up.

"Aw, hush, you already told me you were on traffic control."

"Did I?" he shrugged. "Hey, did you hear something?"

"Naw, what? What's going on?"

"Thought I heard something in the alley up there. I'm - I'm gonna go check
it out, all right? Just stay here, hon."

"Alberto, listen to me, it's probably just some wino, give it a rest. I
don't like this already."

"Just hear me out, Louise, I'm just gonna see if he's OK, all right?" He
stepped around the corner. "Hey, anyone here? Yoo-hoo!"

A tall man rose from the ground, stretched, and snapped his fingers. Behind
the couple, two gigantic men brandishing heavy gloves appeared at the
entrance of the alley, boxing them in.

"Hey, what's the big idea here? Look, if you want my wallet-"

"We don't want your money," said the tall man, a grin spreading across his
face. He wore a long red robe, trimmed with a silver fringe. He was completely bald, and spoke with
an odd inflection, as if he was talking around something in his mouth.
"We're just looking for a little bite to eat, see?"

"Th-there's a bar around the street, we'll go buy you something, okay?"
added Louise, who was visibly shaking.

The tall man stepped forward into the light. His eyes gleamed red in the
pale light of the street lamps. "We're not really craving pub food tonight."
With another wide grin, his lips parted to reveal two huge, hooked canines.

Alberto reached for his gun, but five rums and Coke had dulled his senses.
The tall attacker grabbed his hand and slapped the gun away. He shoved the
cop against the wall; behind them, the two goons grabbed Louise and tossed
her down.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light at the other end of the alley. A young
girl stood there, wearing pale blue armor and a visor that covered her face.
"Evening, boys! Hope there's not been too much trouble?" she said in a high,
wavering voice, trying to sound confident.

"Give me a minute, and I'll be over to deal with you," said the vampire, not
taking his eyes off his struggling prey. "I was just about to sit down for
dinner. I'd ask you to join me, except that you're too young to drink, and
your Halloween costume would get in the way."

She shrugged, then looked skyward. "He fills His hands with lightning, and
commands it to strike its mark!" she shouted, clapping her hands together at
"strike." Her fists crackled with forks of electricity; she pointed her
finger, and a bolt snapped between the vampire's feet, making him jump back.
"I know who you are, Oglar, and I know that tonight judgment approaches! For I am Yozara, the bringer of
divine justice." She recited the lines like a spell, trying to make it sound
loud and impressive, but her voice cracked as she finished. And behind them,
the two heavies on Louise were struck down suddenly, knocked over backwards.

With a roar, Oglar rose to his feet and charged Yozara, the girl in armor.
He took wild swings - she blocked a couple, but Oglar managed to hit her in
the chest, shoving her to her feet. "I wasn't expecting it to be this easy,"
he said, standing over her, fangs bared as he breathed heavily. He leaned in
for the feast to come...

A shot rang out, the sound echoing against the alley's walls. The vampire
recoiled as the bullet ripped through his shoulder. They looked up, and saw
the officer holding his gun in wavering hands. Garcia returned the gaze,
then dropped the pistol. Yozara took the chance to kick the vampire in the
face, rebounding to her feet as he writhed on the ground. She stepped over
him and gestured at Garcia. "You'd best get out of here before you get hurt.
Let us Hunters take care of it."

"Take care of it?! If I hadn't shot that scum you woulda have been fulla
fangs just now! Admit it, I saved your sorry hide!"

"Get out of here." Proving her point, Oglar leapt up and tackled her from
behind. The force shoved them both through a brick wall in a shower of
crumbling mortar dust. They tumbled onto the dance floor of a half-empty
club, filled with flashing lights and trance music cranked to tooth-rattling
levels.

Yozara rolled over onto her back, spitting out a piece of masonry.
Miraculously, the armor had taken most of the blow. Unfortunately, the huge
shock had caused her armor system to short out. With a painful slowness, the
computers started to reset, system by system. She gathered her strength,
moving heavily as the myomers powered back up.

The club was filled with dust and Hollywood fog, the lights and music
thundering on as if nothing had happened. She was fighting blind - no
visual, no foglamps, no infrared, just glowing clouds, driving up the thick
ache building in her head. Her hands arced violently with electricity as the
weapons suddenly kicked back on at full power, shooting through a plate on
the floor and shorting out the footlights on the stage. With a start, she
stumbled to her feet, trying to see if she could see a glimpse of her
opponent. As far as she could tell, the club had cleared out. It was just
him, her and a full bar to fight in.

She charged up her fists and waited. A voice crackled through her helmet
radio. "-hear me? Yozara, get out of there! We've taken care of the ones out
here, we'll cover you!" It was her Elder, the leader of her patrol team. He
was in some van a mile away, watching his command battle in the streets.
Easy for him to say, she thought. Elder probably hadn't been in a real armor
in years, the way he looked.

"Hold on a minute, I think I see something," she whispered her Elder kept
talking, but she zoned him out, watching the shadows shift - Oglar was
making his move. She steadied herself, getting ready to take the blow...

...and nothing happened. Relaxing, she looked around cautiously, hoping to
catch a glimpse of something. A motion above her caught her eye - someone
had started the ceiling fans. The fog and dust blew towards the floor,
revealing the bar, hemmed in by tatami curtains, and behind the bar was
Oglar, a bottle before him, his hands behind his back. He smiled, reached
below the bar, and clicked off the music. "Ah. Much better. Care for a
drink?" He shook the bottle - a tall liter of Everclear - and then pulled
his hand out from his pocket, revealing a brushed aluminum lighter, complete
with a BMW logo on the front.

With a flick of the wrist, the top flipped open, and before Yozara could
react, he had touched the flame to the bottle. His smile widened further,
just before he tossed the bottle against the ground. "We ought to do this
again sometime," Oglaf finished, calmly and quickly making his way towards
the front door.

The fire had already climbed halfway up the curtains, and was hopping across
the carpet below. But Yozara was already in pursuit, dodging barstools and
tables Oglar was pushing over in his wake. He was clearly enjoying himself,
and it was driving Yozara mad. Above them, the fire sprinklers went off,
showering them with water, dribbling into her armor.

She staggered out the front door, coughing from the smoke trailing out the
open windows. Oglar took a right out the door, slowing up a little to make
sure that he was being followed before taking off in a sprint. "Stop!"
Yozara yelled hoarsely, before firing another lightning bolt at him. Oglar
deftly took a quick step to the right, letting the bolt skitter along the
ground before a a trash can stopped it.

The Elder was still barking commands in her ear. "Someone find Yozara, she's
in mortal danger! Repeat, all armors, disengage and find Yozara!" But in
front of her, Oglar, still grinning like a madman, dipped around a corner
and into an alley, taking a brief second to wave at Yozara as he did.

They were back where they started: in an alley, but this time a dead end, and with
Oglar pinned within it. His tone had completely changed, now that she had
him trapped. He started pleading with her, begging to be let free. "I'll do
anything you ask, I'll come quietly, I'll deal with anything you want me to,
just let me live!"

But Yozara was in no mood to show mercy. She reached out her hand and
activated a holographic crucifix, projected from her palm. Immediately, the
vampire recoiled, curling up into a fetal position, making horrible hissing
noises. With a renewed ferocity, she strode forward on the prone form. "Why
should I? We have you on record draining the blood of four innocent victims,
you and your friends back there were planning on butchering two more, on top
of what else we don't have you caught doing..." She leaned down in his face,
the hologram still pointed at his eyes. This is for the good of everyone."

Suddenly, the vampire looked straight in her eyes. He grinned his awful grin
once more and said two fateful words.

"I'm Buddhist."

Before Yozara could do anything about it, Oglar pulled a vibrating knife
from his sleeve and plunged it through her armor and into her chest. Yozara
doubled up, writhing in pain as Oglar cackled over her. He reached down and
pulled the knife out, but not before giving it an extra twist, and licked
down the blade. "Hm, you taste pretty good. Anyway, we had a wonderful first
date, didn't we?" He kicked her in the stomach for good measure. "It's a
shame I had to leave you the check, but it can't be helped." He pocketed the
knife, then walked out of her field of view, back towards the street.

There was a rush of wind, and then a stern voice called out, cutting through
the night . "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places!" There was a
crackle in the air, a green flash, a horrific scream, and then a lingering
scent of something burning in the air.

"Yozara! Speak to me!" It was the Elder himself, come down from his hiding
place to save her. His long, salt-and-pepper hair seemed to flow in the
breeze, and his pale blue armor carried with it a gossamer glow, or maybe
that was the painkillers the suit was pumping into her. "Stay here,
just...stay here, oh God, stay with us," she could hear him repeating over
and over before she blacked out...