Selling Away Their Innocence

Darkness spread across the land. The moon was nowhere to be seen. This was the perfect condition for a hunter to operate in. In a nearby Mobian village, a family was turning in for the night. “Alright, guys,” the father, a hedgehog, said as he tucked in his two children to bed. “Stop this ‘Bad Man' nonsense. He's just a myth made up to scare misbehaving children and you two are not bad kids.” One of the children sat up quickly almost as if she were alarmed by something. “But Dad,” she whined. “He is real! He took Jessica and now he's coming for us!” The father seemed annoyed by what he was hearing. “Okay. I believe you and I'll stay here to make sure that he doesn't come,” the father said, trying to make his offspring feel better. He sat at the end of his daughter's bed and waited for both his daughter and son to go to sleep before getting up to go to his bed. He laid down on his soft, comfortable bed and quickly went to sleep. Later, in the middle of the night, the son got up in a drowsy manner and wandered into the kitchen to get a cup of water. What he saw standing in the kitchen shocked him to the very core. In the child's eyes, a large, hideous monster with claws and a bony body was standing in the kitchen, staring at the boy with its bright, blood red eyes. The boy could do nothing but stand there petrified and motionless as fear began to fill his heart.
The monster crept towards the boy. With each step the monster took, it let out a loud snort. The monster arched its long, terrible claw back and struck the boy, knocking him out. “Another one for Gahiji,” the monster stated as it snuck into the children's bedroom. “Wakey wakey, little girly,” the monster stated as it snatched the sleeping girl from her bed. The girl awoke with a scream as she stared into the eyes of the “monster.” In the eyes of the girl, she saw the Slayer Squad mercenary, Gahiji Okonjo, a ruthless man known for his complete disregard of others. “You’'re the Bad Man,” she shrieked. “Bad Man, eh? I like the sound of that,” Gahiji chuckled as he choked the girl to where she would pass out. The father, who was awakened by the alarming sounds, swung a bat at Gahiji's head and successfully hit him. “Stay away from my children,” he ordered. Gahiji rubbed the back of his own head before taking the bat and hitting the father hard enough to knock him out.
“Bit crazy, huh,” Gahiji sneered. “Not too fond of me taking your children, no? Well screw you, man!!” Gahiji picked up the lifeless body of the daughter and went on to take the boy's lifeless body. “Nice. Siblings,” Gahiji groaned. “Gonna have to watch these two.” Gahiji then exfiltrated the vicinity and went into the woods to lose any of those who might be on his trail.


Morning had arrived and the father of the two taken children was on the porch, sobbing and crying out, “Why me?!” The village had sent out a request for help over the recent kidnappings of children, but only time will tell if anyone has taken up on their request.

Ever since you made the slayer squad I wanted to get involved. 

It was a bright morning, a certain cat was walking along, and it almost seemed...peaceful. But that did not last long, he ran upon a village that seemed souless, despite the villagers being in sight. Something wasn't right. The cat crept closer. It was home to a silent yelling at Envy Bladesong's ears. He approached a villager slowly, with a concerned look....of a broken man....

(Normally, I wouldn't accept people after I posted a closed RP, but since I haven't really stated when I won't accept anymore people, that means that you're in. So welcome aboard).

(Yey. I didn't even know this was closed, sorry)

(You're fine. Just next time check in with me or something).

'This problem's reaching the hundreds. Hundreds of kidnappings and no one knows anything! Not even me...' Blitz placed her head in her hands and tried to deal with her emotions. Not only were random young people being taken from ages four to twenty, they had to go ahead and take her sister. To say Blitz was furious about this was an understatement, she put every disposable resource into finding her sister. When she finds out who's doing it, she was gonna kill them.

"Ma'am, I just got a hand on some recent news castings. Two children--girl and boy--were taken as of a day ago. From what the father has said, someone else named 'Jessica' was also taken. Can't seem to find out if it was another sibling or a friend of the kids."

Blitz raised her head to look at the screen of the taken children. "File and archive. We're getting nowhere with another of these things." She stated with a heavy sigh. "Don't show me any more if they happen. I just want news on my sister's status, Theta."

"Of course, ma'am."

A short fox-like mobian, didn't really hear about the kidnappings, as he wandered often from village to village, he was 16, but he looked much younger because of his size. "H-how long have I been tr-traveling for?" He said to himself as he sat on a bench somewhere near the center of the village, unaware of his surroundings.

( OOC: Please skip me for the time being. I'll keep track of the topic and likely join in once things progress a bit further on. )

(You got it, brother).

The father of the two recently kidnapped children looked up at Envy with a tired, devastated look in his eyes. He grabbed Envy's arm and pleaded, "Please, you have to help me! My children were taken by the 'Bad Man.'" The Bad Man nickname was an infamous one that Gahiji gained among the children of Mazuri for his disregard of human life. On the village community board, many parents had posted requests for help in finding their kidnapped children. The list of those kidnapped was too long to even look at. Hundreds of children were missing, alone, afraid, and probably abused by whomever took them. One particularly disturbing drawing on the community board was of a horrible, hideous creature. Under the creature were the words "Fear the Bad Man."
The father took Envy to the community board and showed him all of who was kidnapped. "Please help," he pleaded, getting down on his knees. "So many of our children have kidnapped by the Bad Man. We don't know what to do!" The father began to cry uncontrollably as he thought about his children and where they could possibly be. One of the Mobian villagers laughed at the father's misfortune. "Face it, my friend. The Bad Man has already taken others from other villages. He won't stop until he has all that he needs," the negative villager snarled. "You and the rest of these villagers can keep on begging for help from people, but they'll never find the Bad Man."

Envy was hit by the sudden feeling of the man grabbing his arm, the man cried words into the empty air asking the cat to help find his children, a certain assortment of these words came out as the 'Bad Man'. 

Envy was taken to the community board, what he was faced with was...unholy. Hundreds of missing children, too many to count, but the picture... It put a chill in the Nexian's spine. Envy looked to the man, but before he could think to speak, a different villager taunted the grief of the heartbroken father, Envy replied by silencing him temporarily, didn't take much energy. Words whispered in the air, the source being the one who took pity on the father, "I will try my best to help you find your whelps."

Blitz was in her 'personal' room. It wasn't that personal since Theta could, really, just poof right it. This room is where Blitz would go if she was frustrated, out of ideas, depressed, or just out right bored. 

She may not seem like it, but she was actually pretty good at alot of instruments. The coordination between her mechanical hand her and her head made quite the perfection of music. She sat down on a bench and looked at the custom-built piano in front of her. It was a combination of original and electric key sounds that allowed for variety. She put her hands up and began to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZW_tWF8mCI

Near the end of it, she was crying silently with rage. If anyone ever saw this, they'd probably say that not even the greatest of certain things are completely emotionless. Her eyes were a bit red and her left hand twitched quite frequently now. To Blitz, she thought she was completely helpless to get her sister back. And that was a feeling she never thought she'd feel again.

All the commotion from the community board, always desperate for conversation or company he started to walk toward the board. Until he saw what was posted all across the board, missing children and the occasion words of 'The Bad Man' written almost on every single sign. His ears folded down and his pupils shrunk as he gazed at it in horror. He approached the father of the two missing children and the cat with the strange blade. "S-say, u-um what's with all the m-missing children?" He asked nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

The father, out of desperation, grasped on to the fox's arm and did the same thing he did with Envy. "Please! You have to rescue them," he pleaded. "The Bad Man took them and I don't know what to do." The pictures of the missing children added to the sense of depression. Hundreds of children and teens were just taken and no one did a thing to help free them when requests were sent out earlier. Somewhere nearby, a TV turned on by itself and featured a Mobian fox in a blue, faceless mask. "Depressing, isn't it," the fox on the TV asked. The background on the TV was of somewhere dark and wet. As the fox moved, the camera moved with him. "If you don't know me then you will get to know me," the fox stated. "I am Malware, the voice of the voiceless, a leader among a repressed people, and I want to help you with this incident." Malware was well-known for his speeches and radical approach to things. Trusting him would be a double-edged sword.

Envy watched as a familiar face walked up to the community board, then was also pleaded to for help, but a nearby TV caught Envy's attention, with another fox naming himself Malware. Malware spoke some words, and Envy figured they could use all the help they could get.

Blitz walked out of her armory wearing a metal skeleton on her back and a picture in her hands. The picture was a group picture of Blitz and her foster family. She sighed and put the picture on a shelf next to the Armory door. She breathed in heavily one last time before regaining her composure. "THETA!"
http://sta.sh/04hhorlg706?recent_preview=1

A butler-like voice spoke back to her. "Yes, madam Blitz?"

"You said you had a familiar sig-ID for me. Give me a briefing." She ordered as she walked up to a large screen.

"I believe you may have already met him from the Parasite Incident." A picture popped up to show the same image from the village Malware was transmitting to. 

"What does he have to do with this, Theta?"

"I was just getting to that. Listen to this."

"If you don't know me then you will get to know me," the fox stated. "I am Malware, the voice of the voiceless, a leader among a repressed people, and I want to help you with this incident."

"Help? Help?! That fucker tried to keep a parasite weapon from me and that mercenary a few months ago! Where is he transmitting to?" Blitz was at a loss as to this fox' reasons, not that it mattered to her. 

"I believe it is a village that has the latest reports of the kidnappings. Uploading coordinates to your personal jet now." Blitz didn't even stay for the whole sentence as it was pretty much a regular thing. She was already heading to the hanger bay.

When she hopped in the jet, Theta's voice spoke from inside the cockpit. "Ma'am, is there anything I should do while you travel to the village?"

Blitz took a moment to think before answering. "See how far along the Parasite Weapon and the the Camel Walker Prototype are then send me an update summary. That will be all." She dismissed him as she put a rather large backpack into a cargo slot on the jet.

The short fox-hybrid was a bit startled by the man's reaction but was soon his attention was drawn towards the screen. "M-malware? Q-quite a funny n-name..." He said to himself as he turned back to the man. "I-I honestly have no clue h-how to save them your children w-when I-I don't even have a lead or a-an idea about w-where they could be." Travis said as he shrugged slightly.

"My real name is of, how do you say, private knowledge," Malware stated. Now, Malware was going go on a long, unnecessary speech about something. Malware's long speeches almost made you wish that Travis "Raven" McGable was here to shut him up. "I chose the name Malware because I am sabotaging and destroying your governments that you've come to know as a democracy or a monarchy," Malware explained. "I represent those who are tired of the corruption, the lies, and the conspiracies. That, however, is not why I am here. Believe it or not, I am a humanitarian. I am here to help you simply because the government won't. We should stand together as one and overcome these tragic occurrences. My heart goes out to those who are suffering. Anyway, I know of a point of interest. Somewhere near the village to the west is a numbers station. Because it is old technology, I can't hack into it. Go there and see what you can find. We will get through this." With that, Malware made the TV turn off. If Malware is truthful about his reasons, he may prove to be great help in this cause.
Meanwhile, Gahiji paced back and forth as he wondered what to do with these thousands of kids That he had locked up in large cages. "Help," the kids screamed, hoping someone would hear them. "Shut your fookin' traps, you little brats," Gahiji ordered angrily as he smacked the cages. "Gahiji," Kelly, an old, but tough female human called. Kelly Wilson was the leader of the Slayer Squad and ensured that everyone did their part. "We need them alive. See to it that it's done because our group needs some of them," Kelly explained. "Barbas is sending me coded messages from number stations about where to strike next," Gahiji said. "Numbers stations are old tech. Nobody can decode them except us." Kelly nodded to show that she understood him. "Excellent. Our plan is almost a reality. A few loose ends just need to be taken care of," she stated as she observed the helpless children and teenagers.

After Malware made his long speeches and stuff of that nature, he informed Envy and this...other being... Of a numbers station nearby, to the west. The TV controlling fox then told them to see what they could find there, then the monitor shut off. Envy processed the information he had learned about Mobius in his brain, it took him three minutes to find the direction west on his own, since he didn't want to look like an idiot asking which way to go. 

The cat looked back at the depressed village, then promised the father of the recently kidnapped children he would find them, and took off running towards the destination.

Washon'jour had basically given up. Her kidnappers, well-armed bastards, had put a special shock collar on her and she couldn't try to get it off without a large shock to her body. She may have given up, but she wasn't stupid. 'Number Stations? Blitz told me about those old things but she never really bothered with them cause of their uselessness. I hope she can figure something past that, I've done all I can...which is nothing...' She silently cried herself to sleep from everything in the dark room-cage while trying to cover her wounds they've given her.


Meanwhile, Blitz was still flying her jet, an F-15 known as the 'Warthog' that could decimate things from the skies, when she received a call from Theta. "Madam, I believe I have some good news for you. I watched the rest of that transmission Malware was broadcasting and apparently he wants someone to check nearby Number Stations since he can't hack into them."


"Number Stations are old tech. They're the ancient stuff compared to today's tech. If he wants them scanned or something, and he was broadcasting near the most recent kidnapping it probably has something to do with the kidnappings. Hopefully. It's a shot in the dark, but it's my best bet. Send me the coordinates and I'll make my way over."

Since he really had a bad sense of direction and that the father of the missing children really did not seem to be in the mood for company, the hooded short fax followed the cat. Though it took awhile to get out of the village, he still followed without saying a single word.

Further towards the west, a young, Mobian, wolf girl was sitting alone a tree branch. She didn't seem like the village kids. In fact, the girl seemed more of an urban dweller. "Sammie Lapp to the rescue," the girl screamed out as she jumped down from the branch. "Ha! I am so good." The girl then took out a revolver that she had somehow made herself. "Sammie," Travis McGable called through Sammie's communication systems. "Just set up the last mine so that no one can get to the numbers station and come back." Sammie set up the last mine and hid it in a good hiding spot. "All done," Sammie declared as a smile grew across her face. "So why'd you want me to set up these mines." Travis McGable sighed as he knew that he would have to tell the truth sooner or later. "I owe them for all they've done for me," Travis answered. "They basically made me." Sammie started heading back to Travis' hideout, leaving the mines ready and primed to explode. "Huh, so this is the last favor," Sammie asked. "Yeah. After this, I have to make sure they can't get GUN to come after me," McGable answered. Suddenly, an android grabbed Sammie from behind and sent a nonlethal electric shock through her body, knocking her out. The communication device was destroyed as well.
The android was Barbas, a machine that sees itself superior among all other lifeforms. The android knew that it was close to a numbers station, but decided to send an encrypted message from its current location. It opened up its communication systems and played "London Bridge is Falling Down" before give out the number sequence 1-1-9 24-76-1 23-82-9 to all Slayer Squad members excluding Travis McGable. Messages from numbers stations are often too complex for even the most talented people to decrypt. Only the Slayer Squad members knew what the message meant. After sending out the message, Barbas headed towards an unknown location. The exact location of where the slaves were being held was still a mystery and those involved in helping to find them had a long way to go.

Envy was still running, he was getting tired, and before he stopped, he scouted the area around him, so nobody could surprise the cat, as he was about to sit down not terribly far from the spot he figured he would stop at, a strange song got into the ears of the individual. He came into sight of.... Some kind of automated droid thing? He accidentally ruffled the leaves of a bush from clumsiness.

By the time Barbas the Android had started playing the tune, Blitz was walking the rest of the way to the Number Station. She caught a faint part of the tune with her ears since they were sensitive like foxes and could hear more than other Mobian species. She grew suspicious and took off her backpack, which was rather large. She opened the main zipper and brought out 3 white metal container-looking cylinders. She placed the backpack next to a tree and pressed a few buttons on each one. The cylinders then sprouted 4 legs, 2 arms with machine guns, and a head. The cylinder metal was their armor and two lasers were guides for aiming the guns. She sent a few commands to the mobile sentry guns and saw them speed-walk their way into the forest.

Blitz noticed that the tune stopped and perked her ears up to listen for anything else. She grinned with faint footsteps being heard. She reached into her bag and pulled out a western-like hat before zipping it back up and jogging in the direction of the footsteps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-gVKPpO5GE

As they drew closer to the location given by 'Malware', Travis was starting to wonder if the cat even knew that he was following him to the number station. Though this observation was later ignored to the fact that lots of people usually ignore him. When he heard the sound of the tune, he went prone into the grass, wondering if the music was related to the 'bad man' as it might lure wandering children with the music emitted from the android.

It had been a fairly uneventful day for him thus far, and for that, the wolf was glad. It seemed that more often than not, busy, active days were the ones that brought him the highest amount of trouble. Fortunately his latest stretch of travel had been quite peaceful. Apart from some rain during the last couple of days, there really had be no reason for him to complain.

According to his estimates and some opinions of townsfolk in the last settlement he'd visited, his destination shouldn't be much farther ahead. His initial survey after awaking that morning had allowed his to spot a structure in the distance. It bothered him that he'd only spotted the one structure. It couldn't be the village he was heading for. But perhaps it would be a good spot to head for. At worst, he'd find nothing there. At best, he could get some updated directions. He'd thought that a few hours ago.

Now though, the wolf was slowly and more quietly approaching the structure he'd seen earlier. He adjusts the pack he's carrying, and occasionally fidgets with the hilt of one of the short swords he was carrying. He was a bit anxious. Several minutes ago, the silence in the area had been broken by the sound of a single voice shouting out something that he couldn't make out from his location as well as the sound of something traveling overhead somewhere close by. The voice didn't bother him that much, it just confirmed that someone was out here and also gave him a better idea of which direction he needed to go. But the other sound...

He remembered an incident a few months ago dealing with some strange violent female that used flying devices to travel around and the terribly misguided males he'd briefly met as well. He hoped he was just overreacting right now to that unpleasant memory, given how things had turned out there.

He wasn't so lost in thought that he missed the motion of some unusual figure ahead of him. Something fairly big and metallic looking, carrying something much smaller. Knowing that he lacked any details and context for the figures and their situation, he drops down lower to the ground, doing his best to stay out of sight, and continues his stealthy approach.