A backstreet meeting (open)

[John Nicholson]

John sighed, he was here to stock up on liquor seeing as his favorite brand was only sold in a backstreet store in this seedy part of town. He had never particularly liked this part of town, especially with the increasing focus on youngsters. Still, the call of a good drink was too strong to have all that deter him from making a booze run every now and again. He just came out of the store, cursing something under his breath about the prices having rosen again. How could an old man on a government pension ever pay for this stuff if they kept kicking up the prices every other week. Still, he wasn't in the mood to fight about it.

He was somewhere in an alleyway when he decided to take a drink, after all, he was carrying an entire bag of the stuff, and a little bit wouldn't hurt. he sat down on a conveniently placed bench and opened one of the bottles. He took a swig, letting the flavor sink in, he welcomed the familiar dulling feeling the stuff had on his mind. He contineud sitting there on that bench. Not expecting anything to really happen

[Vice Ysal]

"Thank you for your patronage!"

The bowing and the happy smiles that Vice had received after having left the small time establishment was a mix between forced and genuinely thankful for at least having a customer attend them that day. Whatever the reason was, they were at least professional enough to do that. A small thing like that does tend to leave lasting impression on the customers, even if the food they had served wasn't really quite all that much.

Going back to the red eyed asian, the Biker backtracked his steps towards where he had parked his motorcycle when in the distance of the alleyway, he could make out a few forms. Namely an old man on a bench doing something and a bunch of other people who seemed to be around his age. He had a few ideas on what was going to follow and thus, for some amusement at least, decided to not start his engine just yet.

Focusing towards the scraggly bunch of rugrats, compared to the old man's age everyone was a damn rugrat anyway, said bunch had been carrying a couple of baseball bats and had an unkempt version of the local high school's uniform. One of them was even wearing a pretty stylish beanie that added to the whole 'look at me factor', probably the leader of this little group if anything.

"Suuuup old timer? Pretty early to be drinkun' ey?" One of them slurred in an attempt to seem intimidating, bending over to move his face closer to the one eyed retiree to double in on the mocking. The others were just there however, not really caring about anything except for wanting to make this little place their hang out for the night. "Best you can do there Jeremy?" A flick of a lighter and a cigarette lit up. "Losing your touch."

"Hey!" The boy called Jeremy turned around, a scowl on his face, before shaking his head and looking at the old timer again. This time, he was thumping the bat on his shoulder to 'show off' that he meant business and wasn't afraid to use the damn thing. "I'm sure you ain't stupid, old man, but git! You're sitting in our hang out and we don't see you paying rent!"

[John Nicholson]

Oh really, couldn't an old man enjoy his liquor these days! John calmly set the bottle down on the bench. He then stood up, righting his back and defiantly looking at the punk "So this is where you guys hang out? Well, don't let me deter you from whatever you were planning on doing tonight.Let me just gather up my bottles and I'll be on my merry way"John turned around to gather up his bottles and leave in peace when he sensed the young thug making a move behind him. He agressively grabbed John's shoulder with his free hand. "We ain't letting you off the hook so easily man, what I meant was git after paying rent for sitting in our hangout.So pay up."

John, not a man to take being robbed like that without a fight, turned his head in the direction of this would-be mugger."So, you think I'll just give you my life savings like that? And why would I do that?" The boy, now getting annoyed at his victim's lack of coöperation. pulled John's shoulder, making him turn around. "I ain't scared of a fragile old man like you! So you better pay up or we'll break your face!" John, being unimpressed by those seemingly empty threats,looked him right in the eyes. "So, you think you have the nerve for that? Very well, be my guest." The kid, seeing this as a threat to his authority over the rest of the group, haphazardly swung his bat at John. However, he was surprised when his swing only met empty air as John had ducked under the attack with an agility one would not expect from such an aged man.

The rest of the punks silently looked at the scene, surely their leader would be able to beat up an overconfident old man like that, so they were shocked when John Intercepted his hand as he was rising it in preparation for another swing. John then seemingly effortlessly wrenched the improvised weapon from his hands. He then cast it aside as his aim was not to seriously injure this young punk. He aimed only to to scare him. He could easily see the obvious gaps in his combat stance but decided to wait for another attack to furter humiliate his opponent. Although he remained wary about the kid's backup.

[Vice Ysal]

It was actually getting interesting, that much Vice was willing to admit. As he stood there, arms crossed and back slightly leaning against the seat of his motorcycle, observing the little spat the figures were having. A fight had already broken out and that was always something to look forward to. Locking his motorcycle in place to avoid it getting stolen, the young man shrugged to himself and began to make his way towards the group of people who seemed to be having some fun. As Vice was doing this, the bat wielding thug wasn't quite enjoying his predicament. Sure he wasn't trained in any kind of actual martial arts and that the baseball had always been enough to scare most people away but this old man was just being a bitch to handle. The pained grunt after losing the bat didn't help matters any either and the other people with him were beginning to wonder just what the hell was up with the old man.

"Stay still old man and lemme hit you!" Said the small time delinquent as he lunged forward and tried to smack the military man with a fist to the stomach. The others were also already beginning to get ready to jump in to try and save their friend from further humiliation because let's face it, he was losing macho points fast. Before that could escalate to an all out brawl however, the sound of clapping began to echo in the area. It was rhythmic, systematic, and most of all mocking in its nature. Made just the way to capture attention to himself, the group inadvertently stopped their actions to look at the newcomer: Vice.

"You kids seem to be having fun." The small smile on his face and the crinkling of his eyes was obvious. "Mind if join in?" The slight increase in the curl of his lips along with the small narrowing of his eyes meant he was damn serious in getting some amusement out of this. Unfortunately, being from the local high school, some of the guys knew of Vice and decided to back off. Dragging their friends back, pretty damn intent on not leaving with bruised ribs, said party of thugs had more or less evacuated the area like bats out of hell.

"Buh, and here I was looking for a good fight. Kids these days." Shaking his head in disappointment, the smile on his face immediately turning into a frown, the biker began scratching the back of his head in irritation before turning to face the should have been victim of the altercation. "You okay there old man?"

[John Nicholson]

John was just about ready to give the punk a dirt nap in retaliation to his lunge when the scuffle was interrupted by yet another youngster, though he was older than the deliquents. Whoever he was, the punks seemed to recognize him and were scared away. Whoever he was, he seemed like even more bad news. John thus watched him warily as he approached him. It was a pleasant suprise when the other guy asked John whether he was alright. "Yes. Yes, I'm alright. He was mostly bark anyway, I can know. I have seen what people who would follow through with what they say look like.In any case, who are you and why did those guys bolt the moment you showed your face?" John was wary of this new guy. After all, one fight was already more than enough for this afternoon. And maybe he was trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

[Vice Ysal]

"Good to know. Die Hards or not, old men like you have more to share with us youngsters than what most would think." The younger of the two males informed, a slight smile on his face before a couple of long black locks decided to fall over his face. Combing his hair back with a swipe of his hand, the young man decided to just go ahead with the honest introduction. Not like he had anything to hide right now, and the old man seemed to be on the straight and narrow if the whole military induction thing said anything.

"Name's Vice, and nothing much. Used to be part of 'The Gang' way back when and I guess all the new bloods still know my face. It used to be a big deal back then but it's nothing you have to worry about though." Rolling his shoulders and deciding to accompany the old man in whatever the hell he was doing, the biker went on ahead and plopped unto the bench that the one eyed old timer had used recently.

"And you old timer? Still got some moves on ya, but don't you think it's a bit early for a drink?"

[John Nicholson]

So this youngster preferred to be referred to as Cive then? John didn't question the name, he had heard weirder names. His whole story about once being a part of this 'gang' interested him. What was it with young people throwing away their life in pointless petty crime these days. And his inquiry as to why he was already drinking at this time of day? John sat down on the bench again with a Sigh, Turning his head to Vice. "And why can't I be drinking at this time of day, it's not like i've got much better to do, And while we're on the subject of introductions, the name's John. John Nicholson. And if you're already impressed by my 'moves' then you haven't seen nothing yet."

He noticed he was starting to ramble on like a stereotypical old geezer again so he quickly cut short his monologue. Now taking a good look at the youngster. even a quick look gave the impression that he wanted to appear tough to the world. wondering why, John inquired; "So, what's the deal with the whole biker getup? Didn't you just say your days as a deliquent were over?"

[Vice Ysal]

"Never said you couldn't. Just a tad of curiosity."

The biker shrugged before his ears perked up at the latter part of the Military Man's inquisition.

"And is that a challenge old man?"

Vice grinned, his teeth actually showing this time. It should have been obvious by now that the younger male's out look upon violence wasn't quite the same as a pacifist's but at the same time, with how enthusiastic he seemed to be, it might just really be because he enjoyed throwing punches and getting some in return.

"Stereotyping already? Guess I can't blame you for that." The Asian snorted as he leaned back on the bench to stretch his legs a bit more. The alley way was a bit cramped as it was and having to be so stiff in his posture was going to make his limbs sluggish after. "Wouldn't consider myself a delinquent, just an enthusiast for more of the physical variety. And I actually own a bike hence the outfit. Ever felt how painful it is driving down the street without the proper equipment? It sucks old man."

Shaking his head at the impromptu sharing session, Vice decided to just go with the flow of things. It wasn't like it was a bad thing, meeting new people even if they were rickety old bastards like this one.

"That said, you look like a military man. Anything you can comment about how the military here's dealing with things? It doesn't exactly strike me as…er, militaristic, for the lack of a better word."

[John Nicholson]

Of course John stereotyped things, he wasn't in the mood for nuanced thought right now. In any case, he set himself down on the bench besides Vice. He had asked him for his opinion about the lockdown. "If you asked me, I would say the utter lack of information about the outside world is suspicious. It might just compell people to go out of the safe zone just to see what's out there." He though about the possibility of Vice knowing the truth. He had already confirmed the existence of other users in the city. But he had to be careful about discussing it with strangers. After all, someone who didn't know the truth might just think the stories of shadows and maic out there were signs of him going senile, which was the last thing he could use right now. "Frankly, I think there's something out there they don't want us knowing about. Something much worse than the cover story." John hoped this allusion to the true state of things would be enough subtle play on words to clue in another user.

[Vice Ysal]

Well, it was slightly faint but Vice was pretty sure they were finally getting on the same wave length for what happened in the outside of this city. Honestly, the young man was beginning to get tired with all the games of subtlety he'd been playing for the past few weeks and though he understood its importance, being blunt about it was so much easier. He already has to deal with eldritch abominations that had a thing for tentacle skirts and thus had little to no interest in dealing with other dreary subjects.

"There's always something wrong with a cover story because essentially, it's cover story."

Vice snorted, again, and sat a bit straighter at the mentioning of what was going to be happening outside. THe old man knew something, Vice knew something, they both knew the other knew something and thus it was more or less time to take the plunge. "This thing with subtlety isn't really my style, old man." The biker began, the glint in his eyes now obvious. "How long has it been since you woke up?"

[John Nicholson]

Johns guess had been right. Vice was also a user. "How long? not too long really, I can't remember when exactly. But I got tired of waiting around for the lockdown to end so I went out there to see what all the commotion was about, any possible danger be damned" He started reminiscing about that fateful day "So I get in there to see it's all barren wasteland out there, then I came upon an abandoned office complex. I got ambushed by shadows there. And the rest is history." Finishing his story, John turned towards Vice once more. "So, what's your Story?"

[Vice Ysal]

"We all start out the same. Something calls us to the outside, whether we're searching the truth or any other reason. We breathe in that air for the first time and everything just changes for us." Vice answered as his tone began to gain a wistful edge to it. "I haven't woken up that long ago but I've been dealing with shadows even when I was Asleep. Took me a quite a few weeks of throwing myself against them until I died."

Snorting at his terminology, the biker couldn't really find a more apt description for what happened that day. He wasn't being over dramatic or anything like that because in its entirety, having a sword stabbed through your stomach by a shadow that could have killed you had it felt like it wasn't something that everyone survived.

"The World shattered and along with it my slumber. Which reminds me. I don't think I've seen you in any of the Events yet…do you know what those are?"

[John Nicholson]

John listened to the biker's story. It took him a while to figure out the metaphorical way of speaking, but what he gleaned was that all potential users were sooner or later compelled to leave the safety of the inner circle. He wondered whether this was a good thing. Regardless, vice continued, asking something about events. John couldn't really recall any major events related to the shadows happening that weren't instigated by his own actions. "No, I can't say I really know of these 'events' you speak of. What are they?"

[Vice Ysal]

"It's the time where everyone turns into coffins. When the inside of this little haven of ours, Mosaic City, is beset by the same fog that covers the outside world. Where the worst case scenario of those Shadows that roam the outer perimeter appear within the city. These aren't the same as those outside either no, the shadows during these events are far more dangerous, so much stronger than what you could imagine." Vice clicked his tongue against his teeth at the reminiscing. "Hell, we needed at least a dozen and a half to win the last fight, and that wasn't counting the injuries we sustained during the battle."

Shaking his head to try and sway the burden off his shoulders, Vice continued. "So far, we've had theories concerning this particular development. As it is, during every Full Moon? These Shadows appear, somewhere in the city probably, and given that…well, we can't exactly go around leaving it be to cause needless destruction in the very place we call home." Rolling his shoulders to alleviate the increasing tension in them, the young man decided to at least warn his much older companion. "So if I were you? I'd prepare for the worst during those times of the month."

[John Nicholson]

Full moon? Most people turning into coffins? This sounded like the plot of some kind of B-list flick. Still, John had seen the shadows out there. It seemed plausible give the circumstances. He couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary during the last full moon. Maybe he had simply slept through it.  "Wait, you said a dozen and a half people? I didn't realize there were so many of us. This does change some things."

He hadn't considered the possibility of a large amount of people being capable of what he was capable of, possibly even greater feats. It did make sense though, where else would the rumors about shadows and the like have come from."So, Given recent events, I would guess this large shadow manifested itself at the school. After all, what other explenation would there have been for the large damage the building had sustained during the last full moon."