Dancing in the Moonlight

[a3stepnpc]

Characters: EVERYONE!
When: November 30th - Evening/Night
Where: In the biggest park of Paradise
Rating: TBA
Summary: All residents received an invitation to some mysterious festival taking place at the very end of November. Music, dance, food and drinks. Everything is accounted for and even the weather is surprisingly mild for this time of the

Comments

[start of the night] About two miles thataway from the festivities

[hasstandards]

For anyone who arrived at the event and noticed a tiny red dot dancing around from table to table, there was a reason for that

No worries. No one stays alone this night. Promise.

[fridgevigilante]

While some may not notice the tiny glowing dot, others noticed right away. Narrowed eyes looked up quietly, tracking back the light to its very source and fixing the far point with an icy glare. Walter couldn't help the quiet growl. Some spying coward, too afraid to show his face.

Dare he disrupt the peace of this gathering? Might that even be the single murderer this city was looking for?

Walter may not know that yet. But he could find out.

Burying his hands in the pockets of his jacket, he marched on in the direction that little light had come from. And if he was lucky, he got to break a few fingers even.

This is what he gets for not going to the party like a good little citizen of Paradise.

[hasstandards]

The longer he looked, the more frustrated Sniper became. He prided himself on his sharp eyes, keen to quickly find exactly what he was looking for, trained to pinpoint the exact location of the largest threat and take it out as soon as possible. So why, with all his expertise in the field, couldn't he find the source of that bloody music?

He lowered his gun, rubbing one ear as he gritted his teeth, a low growl escaping him as he felt what might be a minor distraction to most grating on him in the worst way. He returned his focus to the scope, even more determined to find whatever radio or record player was causing the ruckus and put it out of commission.

It never occurred to him the music was playing somewhere in his head, nor did it occur to him to keep a closer eye on his surroundings; if he had, he might have noticed someone following the laser sight of his rifle.

He might end up there after all.

[fridgevigilante]

Where one man had an expertize in spotting their target, Rorschach was an expert if it came to remain unseen until he chose to make his presence known. In a peaceful city like this it seemed even easier than in New York. But New York had known him. New York had known Rorschach as well as it had known Walter.

Paradise... Was almost too easy.

Once he had made out the location of the laserpointing stranger/possible criminal, Walter set for a brief detourto gather his things. Because that was no job for Walter. This was Rorschach's job. It was Rorschach's job to remain unseen and quietly climb onto that building. To walk over to the other man and briefly adjust his worn hat, flex his freshly gloved fingers. It almost felt like he was back again. Back in New York.

Almost. This was still Paradise. That strange, clean city with two single murder victims over the past few months.

"Looking for someone?" the vigilante spoke in a monotone voice filtered through several layers of latex and shifting fluids once he stood behind the armed man.

He really ought to learn to do these things the easy way.

[hasstandards]

As focused as he was on finding the source of the music, even Sniper couldn't ignore the voice that addressed him, especially when it came from directly behind him. He was up in an instant, ready to shoot unscoped if need be. Pyro hadn't mentioned there were any Spies around, but that was who the marksman expected as he turned.

And to be fair, the man before him wasn't that different from a Spy- he even had a mask, though his was a far cry from the balaclava the mercenaries he knew wore. The pattern on it shifted in the dim moonlight; he was sure it was his imagination at work. It had never been so active before, but he was beginning to learn to not be surprised by anything he was met with in Paradise. For all he knew, the stranger could have been a Spy in a new outfit.

"That's really none of your business, is it?" Sniper retorted, ready to drop the gun and grab his kukri if it came to a close-quarters fight. Bloody spooks.

The nice smelly uncle might teach him...

[fridgevigilante]

Rorschach might indeed be closer to a Spy than anything. But he surely didn't rely on backstabbing anyone. And as for now, the vigilante's posture was still rather relaxed. He was still gathering information and observing the other man closely behind shifting black and white, hands tugged away in th pockets of his coat.

"Noticed you aiming at peaceful citizens: Decided to make it my problem." Rorschach informed the RED with his monotone rasp, pose unchanging. Despite how calm the man seemed he was wound tight enough to jump at any given moment "Who is your aim?"

Really, Sniper just needs to learn to play nice with others.

[hasstandards]

"No one, for now," Sniper replied, refusing to take his eyes off the masked stranger. It was one more thing he'd learned from his time with the team- to never turn his back on any one of them. With Spies on the battlefield, there was no telling when a teammate was not who they appeared to be. Though he couldn't begin to guess exactly what the man in front of him was going for with his attire, Sniper couldn't help but be reminded of the mask-wearing Frenchmen he saw on a daily basis.

Well, had seen until his arrival in Paradise. He was still getting used to that.

"I'm merely observing the situation," he continued, deciding his initial explanation hadn't offered much.

[fridgevigilante]

"Hurm. Blindly revealing that the lack of a target could be subject to change at a later point of the day. Must either be dumb or joking. Not the best situation for joke." the vigilante still didn't move from where he stood, but he withrew his gloved hands from his pockets "Do not plan to take any risks. City's law enforcement not yet reliable. Yet, criminal minds need to be stopped." there is a brief pause in the man's words and he held out a single hand towards the mercenary "Hand over your weapons now."

It was an odd move for himself. But there was still a wast difference from the normal criminals Rorschach rememberred from New York and what he might cross paths with here. While this man clearly fitted well into the scheme of criminals that might dwell here, he had done nothing so far that Rorschach had any proof for. The only thing this man had done was aim a rifle at a couple of people. And even if that was the only thing Sniper had done so far, it justified the decision of not just letting him go on with this little pass time

[hasstandards]

Sniper snorted in half a laugh, the sneer on his face one marked with incredulousness. "Right. Handin' over my weapons to some yobbo who comes traipsin' up here while I'm minding my own business. You gotta lot of nerve."

He resisted the urge to look back toward the festivities, though his ears picked up the sounds of the party getting into gear. It was likely people were around now- that'd make his observation even harder, with them getting in the way. He'd hoped to take a quick look and get out of the cold; the fact that he was being held up only fueled his irritation. He was not handing over his name, and certainly wasn't handing over his weapons.

"I already got told not to shoot anyone, so you can just rack off." He caught the tone of anger in his own voice, but did nothing to stifle it. If nothing else, it would keep him warm.

[fridgevigilante]

The reaction was hardly surprising. Still, the vigilante had hoped this armed man would surprise him by cooperating. But apparently not everyone was willing to let Paradise be Paradise. And as usual it was the humans bend on disrupting the peace of their habitat. It's always the humans. Unable to control their destructive vibes.

"Can't trust you." came the flat response "Won't let you aim for civilians again. Paradise yet manages to stay true to its name. Only few small patches of dirt to be found. Will not allow them to spread further."

Rorschach moved suddenly, charging forward at the other, much taller man from where he stood with the intention of tackling him to the ground. Neither his words or posture carried any warning concerning the upcoming assault. Even the tone of the man's voice remained its monotone self.

[hasstandards]

The attack- so swift, so sudden, and without any hint from the masked man that it was coming until he was already dashing across the rooftop- took Sniper by surprise. He hadn't even time to reach for his kukri before the stranger was upon him; the impact sent them both down, the RED landing on his back and sliding along the low decline to the edge of the building, taking shingles off as he went. They fell to the ground below, cracking as they hit the pavement.

Thankfully, Sniper had been on his guard to begin with: the gun was between them, and while it went unfired, it served as a weapon regardless. He wrested it left and right, fully intending to strike his attacker across the face with the stock if given the chance. While the gutter kept him from taking a nasty tumble from the roof, there was no guarantee it would hold up to his weight forever, especially in a skirmish.

[fridgevigilante]

Tackling the long-limbed man had been more successful than Rorschach had expected it to be. But the vigilante was no one to complain. Not when he had to watch out for not falling off the roof himself as well as to make sure he didn't get hit by the rifle too badly.

"Futile." he grunted in annoyance, though his voice remained the same flat rasp it had been before. Using his arm, elbow and shoulder to block the hits, Rorschach tried to get hold of any bit of the other man's arms or any of his hands or fingers to interrupt the struggle.

It might have been due to the peaceful nature of this place, but even Rorschach saw no reason in too much unnecessary violence with this man. A few bruises and broken bones never hurt. But if he insisted on training his gun on the innocent citizen, Rorschach was at least inclined to lock this lunatic up somewhere for the time being. Until he had decided what to do with him.

[hasstandards]

Sniper's lack of skill in close-quarters combat showed as his attacks were blocked, the stranger's raspy voice cutting through the music that still played inexplicably in his ears. The RED felt his hand get a grip on his bare forearm; ire rose in him, and he struggled against his assailant harder, unwilling to be taken down so easily.

"Piss off, ya mongrel!" He brought his knee under the presumed Spy's abdomen, hoping to force him off with a blow to the gut. While the outfit was reminiscent of a Spy, the tactics of subduing rather than stabbing were completely foreign.

[fridgevigilante]

Just when he had managed to get hold of one of the other man's arms, Rorschach was kept from trying anything on the limb. A nice twist or a dislocation would have worked wonders in such a situation, but so did a well-aimed kick to a man's stomach by way too long legs.

It was all the shorter man could do to grab hold onto that same leg instead of the Sniper's arm to not get kicked off too far and possibly losing some of his balance.

Rorschach growled as he half crouched over the limb that had just kicked him off and quickly picked up one half of a lose shingle that could by now be found all around the sharpshooter. Black and white shifted vividly as the vigilante drew his hand back and rammed the moderately sharp piece of fired clay deeply into the mercenarie's knee.

[hasstandards]

Though his kick had landed and kept the assailant from taking his gun, the success was short-lived. Sniper let out a cry of agony as the shard from the broken shingle was shoved into his knee- he felt a trail of blood run down his leg as he gasped, the pain jarring all of his senses simultaneously.

He acted on reflex, his muscles moving on their own as he pulled the trigger, firing his gun in front of him. The resounding boom cut off the music playing in his head, as though the source was his target. Though nowhere nearly as effective as a shot to the head, the darts had a decent kick to them; at that range, he hoped any shot would give him enough time to make an escape... if that was even possible, given the driving pain from his wounded knee.

[fridgevigilante]

The masked man tried to dodge the bullet, but only managed to do so halfway. It still struck him in his right upper arm and Rorschach prized it with a low grunt of suppressed pain. The impact itself, thought, send the vigilante off of the other man entirely and down onto the roof where he scrambled a moment before regaining his footing and standing back up with angry shifting fluids covering his face and a fist ready to strike at his left.

Lucky he was left-handed anyway.

For the moment, the man still caught his breath, not letting his eyes off the mercenary on the roof. Chances were high that Rorschach would charge at the other again at any given moment.