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Dec. 25th, 2018 01:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavandarlizard2Meant to have this up earlier, but weather conspired to give me a brown/black out, so... late again. ^__^
BFB – Part 107 – Karma Sharpens Her Nails
Happily sorting files as he strode along the corridor, Duo sang softly along with the current song playing on his phone. He'd have to get Trowa something to thank him for showing Duo how to download music to his phone – he hadn't realized that was possible until a few months ago.
This was great! He pirouetted at the bottom of a staircase and then tap-danced his way up the steps to the next level. He only had one earbud in; Castle rules for safety.
He heard something outside the single earpiece that sounded discordant and paused to remove it and listen. Huh. Sounded like someone stomping along a hallway. Kind of angry, he deduced. He couldn't tell from the echoes whether it was his level or one up or down.
He shrugged to himself. He certainly had no reason to be angry or upset, so he continued on his way, shuffling a “J” file in between an “I” and an “L”. He paused to get a better grip on his files and realized the angry footfalls were coming toward him, just around the curve of the hallway. He frowned uneasily and shifted his grip on the files, before continuing forward.
They met in the middle of the curve. Duo's eyes widened.
“What are you doing -”
“YOU! You filthy bastard!”
Oh shit; the bitch from Probation.
Her wand leveled at him, she began to advance. Duo swallowed and backed away. Not that he was afraid of the bitch, but he wasn't sure what his response should properly be. If she waved that wand at him, though...
“You aren't supposed to be here,” he said and dropped the files into an untidy heap on the floor. If this became a duel, he needed freedom of movement.
“I have more right to be here than you do, you, you... animal!”
“Oh, that's just uncalled for!” he snapped back. “You'd still be here if you'd just done your damn job!” He dodged and ducked as she muttered a spell and waved her wand. A spark of blue hit the floor where he'd been standing and blew a chunk out of the stone.
Whoa! Shit suddenly got serious.
“Don't you dare lecture me! You're nothing but a half-breed animal! No better than that stupid demon!” She flung out another spell and again Duo made an acrobatic maneuver to avoid it. She was pushing him back, he noticed and wondered if she thought she could shove him down the stairs. Ha. Over his dead body. Oh wait...
He decided then to take the fight to her and ducked another wand blast. This time he fired back, a small ball of power that landed at her feet and caused her to jump back. She looked surprised; he guessed she never expected him to have that kind of ability. Well, of course not! snorted his inner voice. She thinks you're on a par with a dog or a pig.
His own anger growing, he began lobbing small 'grenades' at her, pushing her back and trying as he did to somehow mentally convey to Heero or Tiffany that he needed assistance. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not, but he tried all the same.
Not going to work this time, he decided, as she managed to score a glancing scrape on his upper arm. He danced sideways and threw a larger grenade. This one dug out a fair-sized divot in the stone and she almost tripped getting away from it. Two more shots from her wand and Duo was getting really pissed. Sap knows what spells she was using, but he preferred not to get hit again. His arm already stung like fire.
He stepped on a smooth stone and lost his footing for a moment; she fired something gold at him and it glanced off his shoulder. His arm went numb. No more of this; those green and red shots were probably at least as bad as the gold. She tried again and this time he aimed a grenade straight at her.
Anger or other strong emotion tended to make his offensive weapon stronger and less controllable; he knew that, but she was shooting to wound or even kill and he wasn't waiting around to see which it was.
This time his grenade connected with her wand hand and blew the wand into toothpicks. Unfortunately, it also took her hand and a good portion of her forearm with it. Blood sprayed all over the hallway as he grabbed his phone and punched Heero's number.
“Heero! East tower, fourth floor circuit! I've been attacked! Bring Mistress Loquinn!”
He vanished his phone and leaped forward, trying to remember his first aid skills. Stop the bleeding was the first priority he remembered. He grabbed a length of yarn from his other space and quickly looped it around her bicep, using a knitting needle to twist it into a tourniquet. He couldn’t remember the on-off durations, so he stuck to thirty seconds on - five seconds off and hoped that would do until Mistress Loquinn arrived.
As if thinking her name had called her, Mistress Loquinn arrived in a flurry of lace and leather. She was dressed for horseback riding; it must have been her day off. Heero was with her and they both launched themselves at Duo and the unfortunate Witch.
The Mistress’ wand was moving furiously even as Heero snatched Duo into his arms and spun them across the corridor.
“Duo! What happened?!”
“I was following the corridor and practically ran into her. She pulled out her wand and started firing spells at me, so I fired back. I only meant to take out her wand, but...”
“I know. Where is her wand? Jezebel, can you shut her up? That screaming is getting on my nerves.”
“Gotcha.” And the screaming stopped.
“Thank you; much better.”
Into the sudden silence, Q appeared. “Oh bother,” he muttered. “I was afraid of this.”
“That she would attack Duo?!” snapped Heero. Duo tried to make his own comment, but Heero had him almost in a headlock and he could barely breathe, let alone speak.
“Of course not. I expected her to show up here again. Her passcard was never collected, remember.”
Duo finally fought himself free of the Dragon’s grip. “Q, she started firing as soon as she recognized me! I had to fire back, but I never intended to blow her arm off like that! I swear I’d never do that intentionally.”
“I know, Duo. I know that strong emotion enhances your power. One can hardly be blamed when the other person shot first,” Q soothed. In no way, shape, or form did he believe that Duo fired first; it simply wasn’t in his nature. “Where is her wand?” he asked as he leaned over to see what Mistress Loquinn was doing. “Need any assistance, Jezebel?”
“No thanks. It looks bad, but it’s really just a couple of potions and about 20 hours of healing time.”
In the meantime, Duo and Heero looked around for the wand. “Here it is,” said Heero, pointing to the array of splinters at the side of the corridor. “Wow,” he said under his breath, “she won’t be using that again any time soon.”
Q joined them. “Yes, that is really most sincerely defunct.” He drew his wand and gathered the splinters into a small pile. A few murmured words and the slivers began to align themselves into the shape of a wand. Once it looked complete, he picked it up and tapped the end with his own wand. It seemed like nothing happened, but the Wizard made some pleased noises and smiled at Duo. “We have the proof here that she attacked first.”
“Wow. That’s cool. Is it fixed?” Duo asked anxiously. He didn’t want to be on the hook for any more personal damage.
“No, the wand is dead, but it can still be made to give up its last spells,” said Q absently. “Duo, did you know what she was throwing at you?”
“Um… No. No idea. One caught my arm and made it go numb and she was blowing up chunks of the floor. I kind of thought maybe she was trying to send me down the stairs? She was pushing me that way, at least. That’s when I got mad and started firing back,” he admitted.
“Good thing you did. At least three of her spells were of the killing kind.”
Duo blinked at him. “Seriously? She was really trying to kill me?! What the fuck?!” He felt the rumble of Heero’s growl and glanced up at him. “Taking care of myself here, big guy!”
“Indeed you did,” said Q wryly. “Are you ready to move her?” he asked Mistress Loquinn. “Excellent.” He stepped to the whimpering Witch’s side and all three vanished.
Heero and Duo stood quietly for a moment looking at the stone divots and Duo’s discarded files, and then Duo said, “To think I wished for some fireworks.”
Heero snorted and hugged him tightly again. “So you did. And you got your wish.”
“I think I’ll quit wishing while I’m ahead.”
“Probably a good thing.”
“You want to help me collect my files? I kind of tossed them when she fired the first spell at me.” He nudged the pile with the toe of his boot. Several folders had scorch marks on them.
Heero gave another snort and gestured to the files. They obligingly assembled themselves into a pile and levitated into Duo’s arms.
“That works too,” Duo grinned.
Heero rolled his eyes and made a sweeping gesture to the hallway. The stone divots and pebbles bounced and slid across the stone floor and back into their proper places. With a downward motion of his hand, Heero sealed the stones. The hallway looked as if nothing had happened to disturb its peace.
“Showoff,” Duo snickered.
“One who can, does,” Heero replied blandly. He smirked. “I told you I was a Wizard.”
“I just keep forgetting that, what with the Dragon thing and all.”
They walked through the hall to deliver Duo’s files.
“They will confiscate her card, right?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
“Good.”
“Lunch after this?”
“Yeah. I need the energy.”
BFB – Part 107 – Karma Sharpens Her Nails
Happily sorting files as he strode along the corridor, Duo sang softly along with the current song playing on his phone. He'd have to get Trowa something to thank him for showing Duo how to download music to his phone – he hadn't realized that was possible until a few months ago.
This was great! He pirouetted at the bottom of a staircase and then tap-danced his way up the steps to the next level. He only had one earbud in; Castle rules for safety.
He heard something outside the single earpiece that sounded discordant and paused to remove it and listen. Huh. Sounded like someone stomping along a hallway. Kind of angry, he deduced. He couldn't tell from the echoes whether it was his level or one up or down.
He shrugged to himself. He certainly had no reason to be angry or upset, so he continued on his way, shuffling a “J” file in between an “I” and an “L”. He paused to get a better grip on his files and realized the angry footfalls were coming toward him, just around the curve of the hallway. He frowned uneasily and shifted his grip on the files, before continuing forward.
They met in the middle of the curve. Duo's eyes widened.
“What are you doing -”
“YOU! You filthy bastard!”
Oh shit; the bitch from Probation.
Her wand leveled at him, she began to advance. Duo swallowed and backed away. Not that he was afraid of the bitch, but he wasn't sure what his response should properly be. If she waved that wand at him, though...
“You aren't supposed to be here,” he said and dropped the files into an untidy heap on the floor. If this became a duel, he needed freedom of movement.
“I have more right to be here than you do, you, you... animal!”
“Oh, that's just uncalled for!” he snapped back. “You'd still be here if you'd just done your damn job!” He dodged and ducked as she muttered a spell and waved her wand. A spark of blue hit the floor where he'd been standing and blew a chunk out of the stone.
Whoa! Shit suddenly got serious.
“Don't you dare lecture me! You're nothing but a half-breed animal! No better than that stupid demon!” She flung out another spell and again Duo made an acrobatic maneuver to avoid it. She was pushing him back, he noticed and wondered if she thought she could shove him down the stairs. Ha. Over his dead body. Oh wait...
He decided then to take the fight to her and ducked another wand blast. This time he fired back, a small ball of power that landed at her feet and caused her to jump back. She looked surprised; he guessed she never expected him to have that kind of ability. Well, of course not! snorted his inner voice. She thinks you're on a par with a dog or a pig.
His own anger growing, he began lobbing small 'grenades' at her, pushing her back and trying as he did to somehow mentally convey to Heero or Tiffany that he needed assistance. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not, but he tried all the same.
Not going to work this time, he decided, as she managed to score a glancing scrape on his upper arm. He danced sideways and threw a larger grenade. This one dug out a fair-sized divot in the stone and she almost tripped getting away from it. Two more shots from her wand and Duo was getting really pissed. Sap knows what spells she was using, but he preferred not to get hit again. His arm already stung like fire.
He stepped on a smooth stone and lost his footing for a moment; she fired something gold at him and it glanced off his shoulder. His arm went numb. No more of this; those green and red shots were probably at least as bad as the gold. She tried again and this time he aimed a grenade straight at her.
Anger or other strong emotion tended to make his offensive weapon stronger and less controllable; he knew that, but she was shooting to wound or even kill and he wasn't waiting around to see which it was.
This time his grenade connected with her wand hand and blew the wand into toothpicks. Unfortunately, it also took her hand and a good portion of her forearm with it. Blood sprayed all over the hallway as he grabbed his phone and punched Heero's number.
“Heero! East tower, fourth floor circuit! I've been attacked! Bring Mistress Loquinn!”
He vanished his phone and leaped forward, trying to remember his first aid skills. Stop the bleeding was the first priority he remembered. He grabbed a length of yarn from his other space and quickly looped it around her bicep, using a knitting needle to twist it into a tourniquet. He couldn’t remember the on-off durations, so he stuck to thirty seconds on - five seconds off and hoped that would do until Mistress Loquinn arrived.
As if thinking her name had called her, Mistress Loquinn arrived in a flurry of lace and leather. She was dressed for horseback riding; it must have been her day off. Heero was with her and they both launched themselves at Duo and the unfortunate Witch.
The Mistress’ wand was moving furiously even as Heero snatched Duo into his arms and spun them across the corridor.
“Duo! What happened?!”
“I was following the corridor and practically ran into her. She pulled out her wand and started firing spells at me, so I fired back. I only meant to take out her wand, but...”
“I know. Where is her wand? Jezebel, can you shut her up? That screaming is getting on my nerves.”
“Gotcha.” And the screaming stopped.
“Thank you; much better.”
Into the sudden silence, Q appeared. “Oh bother,” he muttered. “I was afraid of this.”
“That she would attack Duo?!” snapped Heero. Duo tried to make his own comment, but Heero had him almost in a headlock and he could barely breathe, let alone speak.
“Of course not. I expected her to show up here again. Her passcard was never collected, remember.”
Duo finally fought himself free of the Dragon’s grip. “Q, she started firing as soon as she recognized me! I had to fire back, but I never intended to blow her arm off like that! I swear I’d never do that intentionally.”
“I know, Duo. I know that strong emotion enhances your power. One can hardly be blamed when the other person shot first,” Q soothed. In no way, shape, or form did he believe that Duo fired first; it simply wasn’t in his nature. “Where is her wand?” he asked as he leaned over to see what Mistress Loquinn was doing. “Need any assistance, Jezebel?”
“No thanks. It looks bad, but it’s really just a couple of potions and about 20 hours of healing time.”
In the meantime, Duo and Heero looked around for the wand. “Here it is,” said Heero, pointing to the array of splinters at the side of the corridor. “Wow,” he said under his breath, “she won’t be using that again any time soon.”
Q joined them. “Yes, that is really most sincerely defunct.” He drew his wand and gathered the splinters into a small pile. A few murmured words and the slivers began to align themselves into the shape of a wand. Once it looked complete, he picked it up and tapped the end with his own wand. It seemed like nothing happened, but the Wizard made some pleased noises and smiled at Duo. “We have the proof here that she attacked first.”
“Wow. That’s cool. Is it fixed?” Duo asked anxiously. He didn’t want to be on the hook for any more personal damage.
“No, the wand is dead, but it can still be made to give up its last spells,” said Q absently. “Duo, did you know what she was throwing at you?”
“Um… No. No idea. One caught my arm and made it go numb and she was blowing up chunks of the floor. I kind of thought maybe she was trying to send me down the stairs? She was pushing me that way, at least. That’s when I got mad and started firing back,” he admitted.
“Good thing you did. At least three of her spells were of the killing kind.”
Duo blinked at him. “Seriously? She was really trying to kill me?! What the fuck?!” He felt the rumble of Heero’s growl and glanced up at him. “Taking care of myself here, big guy!”
“Indeed you did,” said Q wryly. “Are you ready to move her?” he asked Mistress Loquinn. “Excellent.” He stepped to the whimpering Witch’s side and all three vanished.
Heero and Duo stood quietly for a moment looking at the stone divots and Duo’s discarded files, and then Duo said, “To think I wished for some fireworks.”
Heero snorted and hugged him tightly again. “So you did. And you got your wish.”
“I think I’ll quit wishing while I’m ahead.”
“Probably a good thing.”
“You want to help me collect my files? I kind of tossed them when she fired the first spell at me.” He nudged the pile with the toe of his boot. Several folders had scorch marks on them.
Heero gave another snort and gestured to the files. They obligingly assembled themselves into a pile and levitated into Duo’s arms.
“That works too,” Duo grinned.
Heero rolled his eyes and made a sweeping gesture to the hallway. The stone divots and pebbles bounced and slid across the stone floor and back into their proper places. With a downward motion of his hand, Heero sealed the stones. The hallway looked as if nothing had happened to disturb its peace.
“Showoff,” Duo snickered.
“One who can, does,” Heero replied blandly. He smirked. “I told you I was a Wizard.”
“I just keep forgetting that, what with the Dragon thing and all.”
They walked through the hall to deliver Duo’s files.
“They will confiscate her card, right?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
“Good.”
“Lunch after this?”
“Yeah. I need the energy.”
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Date: 2018-12-25 10:13 pm (UTC)And I have to admit, I had forgotten that Heero was a wizard, too.
Very enjoyable and I hope your holiday has gone well!