#the most fucking distinct and easy to identify person walking around the area at the time

[helladventurers]

I hate that people have already normalized the act of not wearing a mask anymore to the point that people see me walking on the streets or walk into a establishment and think I'm a mugger instead of someone concerned for their fucking health 🫠

[what-the--curtains]

Braving the Elements

Chapter 15: Roman Defeated

Tw: Violence, Blood, Swearing

When you enter the facility

When the fight starts

A few days pass and with no activity on your monitors, you and Nat enter Romans cabin and remove any paper files marked as “Project X” from his office. You proceed to retrieve the surveillance cameras and pack up the truck to leave. You and Bucky hadn’t talked about the night you spent together. Neither of you knew why. You hoped he didn’t regret it, you knew you didn’t. You spend most of the ride home and most of the next day asleep, tired from the long shifts. Waking up at around 2pm you check your face in the mirror. The mark he'd left on your neck, the last bit of physical evidence of that night, has faded away. You make your way into the kitchen in sweatpants and a matching cropped sweater, hair done up in a bun. You find everyone else scattered between the kitchen and the living room. It seems like the missions went relatively smoothly, Roman hadn’t been at any of the houses. Though apparently Italy had had some problems based on the few bruises you can see on Sam and Clint's arms. Everyone’s managed to find the hard copies of the previously deleted files of which there were at least 60. At around 4PM you’re all called into the meeting room. Tony had sent copies of the files off to SHIELD in hopes that they would be able to piece them into a coherent report, but the originals were in the conference room spread across the long table. Taking a seat next to Wanda, you pick up a few of the files. You’re skimming through them when Shuri enters the room and pulls up a holographic of what appears to be the blueprints for some kind of fancy building.

“What is that?” you ask.

“That. Is what I found on one of those encrypted files you stole. It looks like it’s some kind of underground bunker.” she replies. “There’s two levels, the upper part seems to be various facilities, living rooms, gyms, bathrooms, etcetera, but the lower level is where they’re keeping the laboratories and medical bays.”

“Hidden in plain sight, allows him to do whatever he wants no questions asked.” You murmur.

“Do we know where it is?” Clint asks.

“Based on some shipment receipts we have a general idea, but we’ll need Sam to scan the area to get the proper locates. Now finding it should be easy enough, and since we have a floor plan of the facility we may even have an upper hand.” Tony explains.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever had the upper hand on Roman.” You state.

“You’re right we need to be prepared for anything.” Steve says.

“If we can bring him in alive, we could figure out where all the mutants in these files have gone.” Tony says, looking at you pointedly before repeating the word alive a decibel louder, but you’re not paying attention, you’ve noticed something in the files.

“There all alphas, looks like he’s even got some omegas.” you say skimming through the files

“They’re all what?” Vision asks, looking to Wanda for an explanation.

“The government classifies mutants into six general groups, epsilons,” Wanda starts

“Mutants with little to no powers but major physical presentation of the x-gene you’ll recognize them a mile away.” You explain.

“Deltas,” Wanda says, pausing in order to continue the back and forth exchange.

“Human presenting mutants with low level powers most of them don’t even know they have the gene. Asymptomatic carries if you will”

“Gammas”

“This is the base level of powerful mutants. They have powers yes, but they also have a distinct phenotypic presentation of the x-gene.” You see some of the people in the room looking confused “Phenotypic presentation meaning they present distinct physical traits. They’re often the most ostracized by you non-mutants. Think Beast, Mystic or Nightcrawler.” You clarify, unsure if the team knows who they are.

“Betas” Wanda continues.

“They’re just as powerful as Gamma’s, but they only have minor physical drawbacks, ones you won’t notice until you’re close up, like Wolverine, or Gambit.”

“Alphas,”

“Very powerful mutants with no phenotypic presentation of the gene some consider them to be the most dangerous because you can’t identify them, Wanda or myself, for example.” You smile at her.

“Then, then there’s omegas.” Wanda says

“These are mutants with the highest level of power. They’re also usually the ones with the hardest powers to control. The most dangerous of the alphas if you will. Jean, Magneto, Charles and Storm are all omegas, powerful ones.” You stop.

“So what does this mean? He’s gathering all the strongest mutants?” Sam asks.

“Looks that way.” Wanda says

“We’re going to need to take extra safety precautions. If they’re fighting with Roman they’ll be looking to kill, not wound, anyone who gets in there way” Tony says

“And what if they’re being held as prisoners?” Bucky asks, beating you to your own question.

“If they’re being held captive they may be angry, untrusting and ready to destroy anyone even if it's people looking to help.” You say “They’ll be scared and fear is dangerous, be careful when approaching them”

“Do we have any way of protecting ourselves?” Nat asks

“Yes,” Shuri pulls out a box with metal collars and a box of ammunition.

“These collars will ensure that whoever is wearing them has their powers disabled” she sees you give her a concerned look “just until we take them off I promise” she reassures. “Meanwhile, these are soaked with a heavy tranquilizer that knocks anyone out in seconds. I’ve hooked them up to best suit your weapons of choice.”

“How do we know it’ll knock out a mutant?” Peter asks.

“Well I tested it on my brother and it knocked him out for a good 5 hours, superpowers and all.” She says grinning from ear to ear causing you all to laugh.

Steve goes over the plans. “Alright troops, we’ll be proceeding into the building through the four main entrances as indicated on the map. We want to make sure that each team has at least one person trained in military combat leading the attack. So, Y/N you’ll go ahead with Wanda and Peter through the back entrance here. Myself and Tony will enter from the left, while Bucky and Sam will come up on the right. Nat, you’ll take Clint and Vision through the front. We’ll maneuver through our quadrants before meeting back here, at the center of the second level. From there we can continue our sweep of the building. Remember, we are not going in to kill, we need Roman alive in order to get information. Any prisoners are not to be harmed, you find them, you wait and Y/N and Wanda will go and make the call. Get your stuff together, we fly in 15.”

Throwing your arsenal into a bag and getting changed you make your way over to the jet.

You throw your duffel bag up to Sam, and he almost drops it underestimating how heavy it was going to be.

“Jesus what’s in here? A body?” he huffs.

“A lady never reveals her secrets” you say, placing your finger over your lips and making a shushing gesture causing Sam and Peter to giggle. You go to hoist yourself up but struggle as the jets entrance was higher off the ground than you had anticipated. Suddenly, two hands grab your waist and lift you up with familiar ease allowing you to reach Sam’s hand. He pulls you up asking you what’s got you all hot and bothered. You shoot him a death stare, leading him to lift his hands up as he walks away mumbling about how he was sorry for asking. You turn around and pull Bucky up “Didn’t think anything could fluster you.” he said quietly with a smile as he passes by, causing you to become even more flustered. What the hell was that all about? You think taking your seat next to Tony and clipping in your seatbelt.

“How was Russia?” Wanda asks while sitting with Visions arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“Fucking cold.” you reply, not making eye contact with Bucky, Nat or Steve afraid you may reveal yourself “Next time Tony we’re pulling name outta a hat so you can’t rig it.” He laughs and the flight takes off

“So what can we expect with this guy Roman?” Peter inquires.

“Well he doesn’t fight fair that’s for sure, but he never does any of his own dirty work he likes to be kept clean I honestly think he’s a germaphobe but I digress. Lots of brutes, usually without superpowers unless bashing someone head in with a baseball bat counts as a power. I don’t know if he’ll even be there.” You say tightening the strap of the holsters around your thighs and clipping your arm bands into place.

The jet lands a few blocks away from the supposed site. It’s a ghost town, run-down buildings that have been partially destroyed, potholes, broken glass, overlapping graffiti on every surface. This wasn’t Romans usual extravagant taste. What was he up to? He always wanted his accomplishments to be on display. Why was he hiding this one?

“Sam, you see anything up there?” Tony asks.

“Scanning one sec. Alright we’ve got a hit, under the old movie theater by the looks of it.” He responds, landing next to you.

“Get into teams, let’s get this asshole.” Bucky says, loading up his machine gun with the knockout bullets Shuri had made. Before you split up he looks over to you,

“Don’t do anything stupid, lots of people here would miss you if you died.”

“Are you including yourself on that list?” you ask, as you load up your own gun. He walks behind you placing a hand on your waist and whispers “What the hell do you think.” Before walking off towards Sam.

You, Wanda and Peter enter from the back. You lead them through the maze of hallways wielding a machine gun checking left and right into any doorways. You knock out the guards with the tranquilizer bullets and once they’re down Peter webs them up to the wall, ensuring they won’t be going anywhere. No signs of any mutants yet. You reach a hallway that diverts off to the side. Holding up your fist you stop before motioning to your two teammates to continue up the hallway while you check it out. You're about to clear the hall when you feel something thwack you in the back of the head, you must have missed a door. You drop your gun and turn around to see none other than your old driver Calvin holding a pistol to your head.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.” He smiles cocking the gun. Before he can pull the trigger a ball of light hits him in the back. You look up to see Wanda standing behind him. You grab your gun and she pulls you up “Old friend of yours?” she asks, while Peter webs up Calvin. You exit the hallway and continue down your path until you reach a door that none of you recognize from the blueprints. “Sam you there?” Wanda asks into the earpiece

“What’s up.” He whispers.

“Send us your scan of the building we’ve reached undocumented territory.”

Wanda pulls up the blueprints. “It looks like this leads to a lower level.”

“Alright, were going in.” you say

“Be careful. Once we're done we’ll head your way. Send us your current location.” Steve’s voice commands.

“Copy.” you respond. Lifting your gun you proceed down the narrow hallway, single file.

You turn the corner, another door, you open it quickly scanning the room for potential threats. You turn on the lights revealing a large empty room, lowering your weapon you take in your surroundings. Then, you hear a clatter and fog canisters roll out in front of you reducing your visibility now unable to see even a few feet in front of you. You hear a crash and see a burst of red light in the fog. “Wanda” you whisper yell “Peter?”. You don’t shoot at the noise, not wanting to hit your two friends. The fog slowly begins to lift revealing Wanda and Peter chained to the floor by their wrists. You bend over to try and break them, but you can’t.

“Look out!” Peter warns. You turn around to see a man, you recognize his face but couldn’t quite remember his name. You blink and then there's 15 of him, carbon copies encircling you.

“ What the…” you start before being interrupted by the echo of slow claps coming from behind the multiples.

“Together at last! How I’ve missed you my freak of nature” a familiar voice calls out

“Now Romy is that any way to speak to an old friend?” you say through gritted teeth, standing up to face him.

“Friends don’t burn down each other’s building, steal from them and kill their guards” he shouts

“Ouf well I guess friends don’t really own each other either?” you snap back.

“Agree to disagree.” he says, finally appearing behind the multiples, sending him? them? back out to guard the door. The 15 men turn back to 1 and exit the room.

“Why are you even here Romy? It’s not like you to do grunt work. And besides, you know you can’t beat me” You exclaim raising your gun and taking aim.

“Maybe not under the usual circumstances, but recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve turned over a new leaf” he says. A burst of light leaves his hands and hits you hard in the stomach knocking the wind out of you. You topple over dropping the gun as you fall.

“But you see your powers are useless here, no water, no fire, no earth in sight.” He continues, kicking down hard on your back, splaying you across the floor. “And my new powers allow me to use electrical energy as a weapon. Isn’t that just so fun!” he kicks the gun away from your reach and lifts your chin up with the tip of his shoe

“Impossible.” You mutter trying to understand what you had just seen, he wasn’t a mutant.

“Not when you know the right people.” he laughs.

“I didn’t miss a room, you gave Calvin powers as well, how?”

“All in good time, but for now you’re going to come with me or I’m going to kill your little friends here as well as all the others currently sweeping the upper levels.” He says as you push yourself off the floor.

“Alright go ahead,” you stand up and make your way over to the door, “see if I care. You obviously need me alive so i'm gonna walk right outta here unharmed”

“Guess you’re still only looking out for number one” he says following behind you

“Always have been” you say, grabbing the handle of the door. “Oh and Romy.” you turn to face him

“Yes darling?” He asks with a snarl.

“Are you really as stupid as you look?” you ask.

“What?” he scowls.

“Do you really think we showed up here without a backup plan?” You knock him down with a gust of air, as he hits the floor he yells for his guards. One tries to grab the door handle, but you ignite your arm bands and touch the knob scolding the man’s hand badly, you can smell the burnt flesh as you let go. Using the water converter technology installed into your suit by Shuri you throw water over the chains confining your two friends, freezing it as it hits the metal. You walk over whacking the chains with the butt of your gun causing them to shatter. You help them up. “Nice acting.” Wanda says rubbing her wrists “Seriously where’s your Oscar?” Peter asks. “Aww thanks guys, you know maybe I should quit my day job!” you start, but quickly realize you have bigger fish to fry as the multiplier and several others enter into the room.

Wanda knocks down three of them with a single blast as Peter works on taking down another two. You're squaring off against a guy who must have superhuman strength, based on his height and intense muscles. “You know there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, seriously what are you on steroids?” You shoot at him but he catches the bullet and crushes it proving your theory. You drop the gun and run at him. Sliding between his legs you jump on his back , pulling out your knife you jab it into his shoulder and he lets out a yelp of pain. At least you knew he could bleed. You manage to wrestle off his helmet, as he reaches around to pull you off, you bite him. This makes him even angrier. He grabs you off his back and throws you against the wall. He’s learning over you as you attempt to make a grab at a knife, he steps on your wrist lifting his foot he aims at your head, you brace for impact. All of a sudden you hear a gun fire and the guy turns to face the shooter, Bucky. The rest of the crew have arrived just in time to help with the other guards. While the muscle man starts towards the winter soldier you grab the knife on the floor and slash the guy's Achilles causing him to fall to the ground. “Thanks for that.” you say wiping the blood of your knife “Right back at you, I was 10 seconds away from being a pancake.” he smiles at you before shooting down two of the guards. It doesn’t take long for you guys to take the rest of them out. Roman’s started moving towards the door amidst the chaos but he doesn't get far before one of Clint's arrows hits him in the leg. Still trying to drag his body out of the room you walk over to him and lift up his head by his hair “You seriously thought you and your run of the mill abusers could take down a team of nine superheroes.”

“Hero? Is that what you think you are? Your hubris will be your downfall.” He says spitting in your face before passing out.

“You get your touch for the dramatic from him?” Sam chuckles.

“Did you know he had powers?” Peter asks, while Bucky lifts up Romans limp body.

“That’s the thing he didn’t use too. Wanda, did you see any doors in that hallway where Calvin tried to kill me?” You say wiping the spit off your face.

“Where who tried to do what to you?” Bucky asks loudly.

“No. You think he had them as well?” Wanda responds, ignoring Bucky’s concern. You shrug.

“So how did he...” Tony starts.

”I don’t know.” you shake your head in confusion. “Someone call Shuri. I have a feeling she’s the only one who can crack this.”

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, ALEXEI! You’ve been accepted for the role of BENEDICK. Admin Rosey: Alexei, you have no idea how happy we have to have another beloved Montague, Benedick, join our ranks! It’s a difficult thing, capturing the nuances of a character within a single application -- laying out their past, present and future in a way that gives each of us a glimpse into your plans for them without revealing it all. But you managed to do it, and very successfuly too. We are so very excited that you have captured Benedick so well and we cannot wait for him to bless our dashes! I, personally, can’t wait to see what type of trouble him and tragedy you have planned for him. Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Alexei/Sasha

Age | 23

Pronouns | They/Them

Activity Level | I’m not really sure how to rate it on a scale of 1-10, but I’m confident that I can do 4+ replies a week and be reasonably active in a group chat. My active hours would probably be sporadically in a group chat from about 9am-2pm, and then I could be working on replies nights from 8-11pm EST. My job/general schedule has pretty steady hours.

Timezone | EST (GMT-5)

How did you find the rp?  | I told Victoria I was still indie roleplaying and she showed me this ring.

Current/Past RP Accounts | Sorry!

IN CHARACTER

Character | Battiasta Tahan - Benedick

What drew you to this character? | In Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick is written as a sarcastic actor-type, always performing to keep the crowd (and his closest friends) guessing, never showing his true face. According to Battista’s bio, he’s mostly like that in his early life, but I thought it would be interesting to explore how this kind of behavior bleeds into the more serious, quiet attitude that seems to come with more experience, more hardship, and more trauma. Is the “new” him the real one, or is it just another mask worn to ingratiate himself with those around him? I find myself drawn to him because I love to look underneath the underneath, to seek out the bare bones motivations behind people’s actions and let them spin their stories as they will.

Battista is a man that’s made many mistakes and has a lot of regrets — though maybe less than we’d think. His story is compelling, and I look forward to doing the deep dive, turning over the rocks to find the soft damp dirt beneath. I want him to have some satisfaction, and I want him to grow into someone capable of being a good friend, if not a good person.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character?  |          Team Making or Team Breaking—

    Battista knows how important it is to trust your team. Just like in the military, knowing that they have your back can be the difference between holding back just a second too long and ending up with a bullet to the skull, and trusting them to watch over you enough to do what you need to do. But how is a trio composed of a control freak, a wild card, and a walking dead woman supposed to function?    It’s not an area suited for his silver tongue— these people need a solid leader, dependable and strong, not someone that charms them and runs when he gets what he wants. He doesn’t want to give up, but bad blood and hard feelings pin him on one side, and a completely unreadable mystery on the other. Is it possible that he can win them over, or will his white-knuckled grip on the reins just end up bloodying all of their mouths?

        Explosive Personality—  

    It’s nothing personal, except when it is. Whether Battista dislikes him on principle, or out of jealousy, something about Everett Craven drives him up a wall. It would take a push for him to resort to outright premeditated murder, and he wouldn’t do it to an emissary without permission, keeping in mind the delicate position it could put the already at war families in. But, well. He certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.    As for the murder weapon— what better way to win a war than with guerilla tactics? Battista isn’t an explosives expert by any means, but he knows his way around something so simple as a booby trap car bomb. With a car as well-loved as Everett’s, it’s a no-brainer to use something ignition-based as a method of assassination, as it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll be the only one caught in the blast. Almost.

         Be It Spark, Inferno, Or Nothing But Ash—

    No man is an island, no matter how much Battista would like to pretend that’s the case for him. With every bullet in the bodies he drops, every hit he takes, he can’t help but wonder just what it was that Genevieve Zhang saw in him the fateful night he prostrated himself before the Montague leadership that made her speak for him. He doesn’t feel it’s his place to outright ask, not yet anyway. He’s unsure if he even wants to know the truth of it.

    Her opinion shouldn’t matter to him. He tells himself it doesn’t, that he’s a grown man, confident in his abilities and his place in the world. Still, the possibilities keep him up at night.

        You Killed My Father, Prepare To Die—

    It seems a distant dream, with all that’s happened. Nearly fifteen years since the cold December night his mother called him, incomprehensible and weeping. Since he had to go down to the morgue with her and try to identify the bloated, dirty corpse the police had pulled from the river. Someone had murdered him, cut him up so badly they could only confirm it was him by the distinctive tattoo on his left shoulder, and the scar from his ACL surgery.

    They’d known it was the Capulets, sure. That’s what got him into this goddamn mess in the first place, though it helped that he knew they were hypocrites, ‘men of the people’ his shapely ass. But he knows it had to be one person to shred his face to ribbons, to strike the final blow. And he knows someone had to okay the kill order. He’s kept an ear to the ground, but it’s hard to hear anything about a nobody that was killed over a decade ago. Still, there’s the tiniest spark of hope. Some day, someone will slip. If they’re still alive, they’ll brag about killing Battista Tahan’s father, and when they do…

    They won’t make it to hell in one piece.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Well, Yeah. Empty Revenge isn’t a whole lot to live for.  

IN DEPTH

What is your favorite place in Verona?

    An odd sort of smile lingered at the corners of his lips in the aftermath of such a question, like he was unsure of whether it was allowed. He shrugged just the left shoulder, palm raised to the sky dismissively like you had asked him how his day was going, how his mother was— how was it ever, yeah? What did it matter, where his favorite place was? It couldn’t hurt to share, but still the answer seemed ripped from him. “The Arena.” One corner of his mouth turned further, expression shifting into something akin to bemusement, and his hand turned down to mime writing. “I like to sit in the shadow of it during the heat of the day, and try to draw.” A grimace, and then a laugh to follow. “Emphasis on ‘try’. But it’s loud, full of people going about their business. Good to people watch.” It was a far sight better than sitting on his thumbs in his empty, silent apartment, anyway. It was nice to pretend that someday he’d be able to draw more than a single line, or write more than a sparse sentence.

What does your typical day look like?

    “Still can’t help but wake up at six,” the comment came off-hand, a huffed laugh out of a wide mouth quirked into something like a chagrined smile. “Drink coffee, work out. Usually sleep for another hour or so after that, if I can.” He rubbed the back of his neck, tough fingers cold against his own skin — a grounding gesture. “Outside of that, I don’t have much of a routine.” Routines make you complacent, after all. A dangerous thing to be, especially when you’re predictable as well. “I try to show my face at the usual haunts, let people know I’m alive and well. Check in on the ducklings, see what they’re up to. Do odd jobs for my landlady— she thinks I’m some fucked-up vet, guess she’s not far off.” He laughed outright at that, something biting creeping into the single bark. Silence reigned.  “I try to keep my head down, unless asked otherwise. But I do like to party.” A last wry twist of his lips. “My only vice.”

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

    His throat clicked in protest against the single dry swallow he managed — his only reply for a while. The question didn’t make him flinch, which he considered a victory. Shoulders remained straight, the line of them loose and his fingers very deliberately uncurled. Look upon him and see how unbothered he was. “Leaving my mother when I did—” Battista’s eyebrows furrowed, and he cut himself off. Softly, he continued, “no. It’s not even that, she would have wasted away with or without me there to watch.” Funny thing, that. He was glad he didn’t have to watch. “I guess it was… when I was young, I was never around. It wouldn’t have changed anything, but at least I would have known them. I was so caught up in my own. Shit, in my own faux-glamorous life, that they didn’t know me and I didn’t know them, at the end.” He shook his head, a soft huff of humorless laughter escaping. “They were the only family I ever had, no aunts or uncles or grandparents. And I don’t know a damn thing about either of them— I don’t even know if they loved each other.”

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

    “I’m good at everything.” The response was immediate, dismissive— he didn’t even lift his eyes from the phone in his hand. In the silence that followed, his brows furrowed, as he pretended to think about it further. “Well, except baking. Not very patient, you see.” The mask is near perfect, but the truth of it is this— it seems like nothing is ever easy, anymore.

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

    Battista blinked, surprised to be asked such a question. “How do I feel about any endless war? It’s pointless and painful, and it’s getting good people killed.” The answer seemed so simple, said aloud like that. It made him grimace. “Reductive, sure. Do I wish death on every hypocritical man-of-the-people Capulet? No. Maybe more than a few, but not all. I know the Montagues aren’t saints either, singularly or as a whole.” A sardonic laugh. “And I know if it had been me that was murdered, or if it had been Daly or Rosso, King, Ivarsson — we wouldn’t have gone to war over something so destructive as pride.” His gaze grew distant for a moment, chewing the inside of his lip. The remainder of his little speech is little more than a murmur: “but I follow orders, and I keep my mouth shut, and these are the things that matter.”

In-Character Para Sample: TW; descriptive injury, death, gore

    The firefight started at 0243 in the streets of a decrepit, abandoned town with crumbling buildings and dusty roads. They were on patrol with some locals— him, Rossi, the snipers they called Rana and Rospo, and a few others scattered among the buildings. Rossi was pink-cheeked and bright, sighing out great clouds of crystalline breath in the cold moonlight from the cloudless sky, making bad jokes about being a dragon. Their lack of quality couldn’t keep the small grin from Tahan’s face, something half-cocked and tucked into his collar. Rospo had asked if he’d ever seen snow with something close to incredulity in his tone, about as much expression as they’d ever seen from the man, and Rossi’s wide-eyed reply was punched out of him before he’d even had a chance to get the first word out, a fine red mist splattering onto Tahan’s face.

    Then they heard the shot.

    It spurred their loose formation into action as they leaped to cover and following the trajectory of the bullet to its source. The night erupted into sound, the sharp rapport of an AK-47 in a window off to the left. Their squad returned fire, and Tahan fell into a crouch and darted the two feet separating him from Rossi, gripped the straps of his gear, and dragged him into a doorway behind a grim Rana and one of the trainees, Allaiwal. He crouched over the man and swallowed the bile that rose in his throat when he saw the damage — glassy brown eyes, no breath, an entry wound an inch under his jaw and an exit wound gaping where his brain stem should have been. He’d seen worse. He had to tell himself that to get his lungs to pull in some air, and when he licked his lips to try and wet his mouth, he could taste blood. He nearly gagged on it, but he still had a job to do.

    The firefight was over before it really began. A half dozen men firing on a lone window could only miss so many times in five seconds, and when the night quieted Tahan let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He carefully ran his hand over Rossi’s eyes to close them, a smear of blood left behind over a slack face. Grit his teeth, gripped his rifle. The night rang with shouted commands, suggestions, curses, and his voice cut through it all in short, barked out commands. Fan out, check for any more surprises— Rana, call for a CASEVAC, Allaiwal, you’re with me. The slighter man shadowed him with a silent nod, and everyone else jumped to their assignments.

    Tahan led them to the squat building with his rifle ready, grip steady. Focused. The initial screech of the hinges on the door made him cringe, but as they stepped over the threshold and into the dark, the house remained silent. Blood was smeared on the windowsill, on the ground. Bullet holes riddled the wall behind them, and the room smelled like gunsmoke, like unwashed bodies lying in wait, like death.

    But there was no body.

    They exchanged glances, Tahan’s flat, Allaiwal’s a little nervous. They didn’t speak, but as he stalked back into the night after the scattered blood trail, Allaiwal followed. Their footsteps made no sound in the streets, two hunters on the prowl under the pale moonlight, and the sounds of their team clearing the buildings behind them faded into the distance. They were breaking protocol. Nobody called them back.

    The specks of blood led them out of town. His body was steady, his eyes focused, even as his head felt fizzy and light, pulse pounding somewhere high in his throat and his heart stuttering away somewhere in his chest. The wind picked up away from the shelter of the cluster of solid buildings, cutting against the skin of his cheeks, his nose, his neck. The blood led them on, great globs of clotting and widespread speckling among the scattered stones and dry dirt. The gore on his face, the bits of Rossi that still clung to his skin were drying into flakes, gumming his eyelashes and glueing his mouth shut. He breathed through his nose, though for the first time in his life the smell of copper was making his stomach roll. The trail led on, into the dark. It dried up, and he circled to look for the trail, as Allaiwal kept eyes on the ridges, looking for movement, for an ambush. Something howled in the distance. He picked up the trail fifty meters from the last spot, just as he was starting to lose something he didn’t dare call hope. They pressed on.

    They found the man half by accident when Tahan nearly tumbled into the ravine that had put an end to him. Allaiwal gripped his sleeve and saved his life, roughly jerking him back and putting his feet on solid ground. The near-miss set his heart pounding once more, choking him. He stared down at the corpse as they clutched each other’s shoulders, unable to tear his eyes away from the twisted form, the broken bones, and the gaping wound in the nameless stranger’s shoulder that would have put an end to him sooner rather than later, if the fall hadn’t. He swallowed hard, and tried to feel something. Satisfaction, disgust. He couldn’t.    Allaiwal must have seen something on his face, because he stuttered something out. Tahan couldn’t understand him for a moment, blinked uselessly, realised— he was speaking english.

    “ — Sorry?”

    “I said —” he swallowed hard, as the whites of his eyes seemingly took up all of his face. “Do not worry, someone will come to bury him. We should go.”

    The percussive sound of a chopper echoed faintly through the valley, and he turned his gaze up to the ridge above them. There, on the edge: a lone rider on horseback, a black shape silhouetted by the moon. He raised his hand in greeting, and Allaiwal made a nervous sound behind him. The rider raised their hand back, and then turned and disappeared from view, and silence reigned, and so he thought about Rossi, being sent home to his mother in a heavy box. He thought about standing on her doorstep in Taranto with an apology on his lips and heaviness in his weary heart. It pressed on his chest, and he turned his gaze back to the corpse in the ravine, bile in his throat at the futility of a single man shooting at a six man cell, of dying alone. What was the fucking point of it all?

    Worry? I wouldn’t say worried.

    It was the first clear thought he had since dragging a corpse into a cold, empty house an hour ago, and so Tahan didn’t say anything. He shrugged one shoulder, turned his back on the cooling body, and followed a similarly silent Allaiwal back to the remains of their squad in that tiny, forgotten town.

EXTRAS

Sample blog |  https://cuorepietoso.tumblr.com/

Some headcanons | He has kept a journal since he was small, scribbled words about his thoughts, messy sketches of the things he’s seen—used to love spending hours drawing people, animals, plants, items that caught his eye, and writing. Since he’s come back to Verona, he can’t seem to put a pen to paper anymore. Perhaps he should try photography? \ He’s a Capricorn sun, Scorpio moon and ascending, so at the surface he seems fundamentally responsible, serious, efficient, and rational, but deep down he’s repressed, dramatic, and cunning as hell. \ His role in the Col Moschin was Incursor-specialized Combat Medic, meaning he was good at getting into places and good at keeping things inside people where they belong. \ He’s nearing six feet and a buck seventy.

Pinterest board | https://pin.it/3vvntdclvgej3i

Spotify playlist | https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5vJ07jCsvhHWU5NtsxxSLE

Preliminary notes/research | https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l4m0F-m0FdHLUNBlWTnw-hugOSu4GbC1uZbPg9VFV6c/edit?usp=sharing

[alliesweetsong]

Into Dusk Pt. 2

“Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game. “

-Paul Rodriguez

(Continued RP from Here. and Here) 

“I’m Knight Warden Reyland, what buisness do you have in Duskwood?” the man asks

Allie didn’t know if she should trust this person, it seemed a little too convenient a Knight Warden should happen upon her camp the evening she was to push into Duskwood to Identify a Knight Warden. Was this a trap from Tylo? A message? Shrugging , the void elf dodges his questions, she hated lying but she didn’t trust this.

The sun was setting as the guard pointed to the oncoming storm blowing in and mentioned the face the Rendorei should come with him, it wasn’t safe to be out in one of these storms. Nodding in a hesitant fashion, Allie agrees and begins the short trek back to the town hall.

The sun had already set as the duo stepped into his office, or the clouds had engulfed the sky, it could’ve been either one with how dark it was so early.

“You’re required to fill out a missing persons report now that you have told me someone is missing, what is your friends full name?” He asks as he grabs a piece of paper and pen before looking up at Allie.

Unslinging her rifle and setting it down, Allie begins to protest before shaking her head. She didn’t need anymore attention to this than what had already been drawn, too many hands in it and she ran the risk of breaking promises or worse, losing Raen entirely. That was unacceptable.

“I can’t tell you. I uh, I should probably go.” she says as the elf gets to her feet and grabs her rifle beginning to back up .

Looking up the man’s tone grew hostile “Sit!” he says demanding, “You’re not leaving until you tell me what this whole thing is about. What’s going on, and why you have been continually acting so suspicious.”

“Kill him, save the elf…”

(intense violence and language below cut NSFW) 

Allie narrows her eyes as she exhales and relents, setting her rifle back down she moves forward and takes a seat. The leather of her pistol belt straining as she leans backwards against the backrest. “Fine.” she says pausing for a moment before launching into the complete story, not holding out any detail. Describing finding Damien in the forest, being behind Raen and following her tracks. And finally, meeting the mysterious Tylo and finding out about Mackerel.  Reyland looks at her, studying the void elf features for a moment as she explains she had gone to SI:7 to procure any documents she could on him but was unsuccessful, the man was like a ghost.

Questioning her for a few more moments, Reyland agrees that something was off and picks up the phone on the desk and begins to speak into it. Allie doesn’t listen much, she begins to fidget with her hands in an impatient manner, she didn’t belong here sitting down, she belonged in Duskwood right now. The anxiety of it was palpable.  

The inside of the office was clean, neat and organized, very much a government building. Though the elf rarely stepped foot into these buildings often, it was becoming commonplace for her to do so, first with SI: 7 and just a few days later, here.

“Okay Willy, thank you so much.”  Reyland says as he hangs the phone up and looks at Allie and folds his arms. “So..” he begins exhaling slowly

“What was that about Ravenhill and Mana crystals?” Allie cuts him off as she looks up at him

“There was an investigation there about a week ago on the report of the death of some elderly. During the investigation, the wardens discovered a few burnt mana crystals in a grave of an unknown man.”

The two go back and forth for several minutes which only served to raise the Ren’dorei’s anxiety, she needed to go, nothing about this conversation was helping minus what she just learned about the mana crystals. Rubbing her forehead, Allie stands up and growls

“Are you going to do your job!?” she explodes “I don’t have time to be sitting here answering questions I need to find her!”

Reyland blinks in surprise at the outburst and picks up the phone as he holds up his hand “Calm down for a moment. Groaning, Allie rubs her forehead as he calls once more. She wasn’t paying attention to what was being said, she only cared about leaving

“He is betraying you, kill him.”

As Reyland hangs up the phone once more he stands “let’s head out.” he says as the Void Elf doesn’t waste another secord, moving at a quickened pace she exits the building and starts heading east.

“”You need to tell me everything you saw there,  and I mean everything” Reyland says as he lights a torch”

“Useless guard force.” Allie says outloud in Thalassian before nodding. “Blood, and alot of it, there was a cage with chains in it, I am sure that is where they help my friend Damien.” she says in an annoyed fashion, she had burnt way to much daylight to get into position on Mackerel to scout him. She wondered how Alyssa was fairing, if she was back in stormwind yet and had got ahold of a new earpiece. It was too risky to try and call out now. That would have to wait.

The sounds of Duskwood come more clearer as the two step over the bridge and head towards Ravenhill, Allie hadn’t been here since she was following Raen’s footsteps the sound of gravel underfoot, the smell of the woods and the distinct lack of any light minus the flame of the torch let the Rendorei breathe out a sigh of relief, she was where she needed to be.

As the two walk up the patch to where Damien and Raen had been taken, they enter the building, still roped off presumably from the wardens conducting their investigation. Most of it had been left unchanged, the blood now dried on the banister, and floor boards. Leading the guard downstairs, Allie shows him the grizzly scene of the cage and chains and pool of dried blood underneath that. She let him inspect it, being down here knowing her friends had been still pained her too much to dare and step closer. Frowning, Reyland turns around and starts walking upstairs

“Lets go check these graves they mentioned.” He says as Allie begins following. She was starting to think he was there to help, that he wasn’t one of Mackerels employees, it was hard to trust but she needed to try.

“Raen does drugs.” She blurts out as they step off the stone path onto dirt. The soft crunch of twigs and flora punctuates their movements. Reyland seems to be taken back by her honesty, looking over his shoulder he lifts an eyebrow

“What drugs?” he inquires

Allie shrugs and bites her lip fearful she shouldn’t have said anything “I don’t know, Damien wouldn’t tell me.” She says as the two to start to enter the graveyard. It was an eerie feeling being in the graveyard at night. The woods surrounding it quiet, devoid of all light, just a big dark wall of nothing. Kneeling down in front of the grave as they come up on it, Reyland starts digging it out search for clues. The bodies and mana crystals were all long gone, but it was worth searching for something the wardens may have missed. Almost as if on queue, the human hits something hard.

Bending down with a grunt the human removes the dirt over the object and pulls it out, revealing a brick with a piece of paper attached to it. As he stands up he holds brick and starts to inspect it. Lifting an eyebrow Allie lunges forward attempting to grab it.

“What’s that, let me see it.” Allie says as she tries to rip the note out of his hand.

Reyland was about tired of the elf’s behavior, shoving her backwards he growls “Hold on!” he yells. The force of the push surprised the Rendorei as she lands on her butt. “It could be a bomb.” he continues as he carefully pulls the envelope free and starts to read the letter.

“Hi Allie.” he reads outloud.

Gasping, Allie stands up and lifts an eyebrow “Its for me?”

Everything from then on happens in a blink of an eye. Blood splatters on Allie’s armor as Reyland screams in pain holding his hand that has a fresh hole in it as the thunderous crack of a rifle report would echo throughout the forest. Allie watches in horror as she realizes someone was sniping at them. Jumping to the right just as the impact of another bullet right where she had been standing moments before impacts the dirt harmlessly as another gunshot would crack out of the pitch black tree line.

Unslinging her rifle, Allie hits the dirt and closes her right eye as she looks through the scope trying to find the shooter, but it was already too late. Reyland screams out in pain once more as a third bullet impacts him on his ribcage sending him reeling into the grave. Breathing heavily as adrenaline kicks in, the Rendorei tries to drown out the man's screams as she tries to find the sniper. But just as quickly as the gunfire started, it stopped.

While Allie scanned the forest for several moments her first thought was to eliminate the threat, she was exposed, out in the open and the sniper clearly had their location dialed it. It was an ambush. Her thoughts didn’t get a chance linger long as suddenly, the forest erupted once more, this time automatic gunfire starts ripping the area around them to shreds.

Allie knew this was too easy, something about this didn’t feel right. Rolling to the side, the Rendorei tries to crawl to the grave to grab the letter and run, but the rate of fire was too much. Pinned down she was forced to watch the letter get obliterated in the chaos. As the gunfire once more stopped and the forest feel eerily quiet she crawls to a nearby tree and takes cover as she peeks out trying to spot any movement. But there was none, as she breathes a sigh of relief she walks towards the grave rifle in hand ready to return fire as she looks down

Labored breaths from Reyland is the only sound that was made around the area save for the haunting howl of a tornado the storm Reyland had talked about earlier. Bending down Allie grabs ahold of the man and starts pulling him out of the grave.

“F...Fuck.” he pants as he’s pulled out.

“What did the note say?” she asks as she starts to inspect the man once on the surface. He had been lucky, the bullet missed a direct impact with his ribs and torso by inches, it was only a graze  

“J..Just Hi..Allie.” he says trying to catch his breath.

“Kill the man, save the elf.”

Growling, Allie pulls the hammer back of her revolver in its holster as she looks at the man in a serious manner to show she was being dead serious. “Who was it from?” she asks in a low snarl

“He set you up, kill him, save the elf.”

“I don’t know, it only said that.” Reyland replies as he struggles to his feet.

Allie shakes her head lightly as a few tears starts rolling down her cheek. “You tipped them off didn’t you.” she accuses him as the human looks at her confused

“What!?” he gasps out

“You tipped off Mackerel!” she yells out

“He is of no use, bury him in that grave.”

“Who the fuck is Macker-” he starts to say as Allie tries to push him in the grave. Holding her back he weakly tries to reach for his blade with his shot hand and cringes

“Who do you work for?” Allie snarls out getting increasingly angry.

“End this, save the elf”

“Why are you doing this?” Reyland pleads as his hand tightended around hers on his breastplate “If I would’ve known about this I wouldn’t have even come with you.” he says trying to explain.

Allie rips her hand away from the weakened man easily and steps back pulling her revolver out as her eyes begin to swirl with void energy. “Get in the grave, now.” she snarls in a low threatening voice.

Reyland slowly stood up straight “No…” he replies forcefully “I just took two bullets for you!”

Allie suddenly raises the gun to his head “IN! NOW!!” she screams out

“You shoot me and you shoot your only help!” he yells back

Allie stood there for a moment starting at the man trying to collect her thoughts as her finger moved to the trigger, she already knew the answer to the next question, it was the only explanation for what had just happened.

“Who did you talk to on that phone?” Allie asks in a low voice

The human looks entirely flabbergasted as he stood there “The bloody Deputy-Warden just up the road.” he exclaims.

“Up the road WHERE!?” the Ren’dorei snarls back.

“You are out of time, end him, get to the elf.”

“In Darkshire. That’s where their is post is.” Reyland says before he begins to shake his head “Wait..wait a second, I think…” his voice trails off.

Allie knew it, she was right. By going to him he had called the one person she was looking for and tipped them off, they had everything now, her name, what she was doing..and more importantly how much she knew. It was a complete disaster. Looking at the man with malice in her eyes she slowly begins applying pressure to the trigger..

“It was rigged from the start, and it was happening right under my nose..” he starts explaining putting the pieces together “The person we’re looking for is-”

Once more, blood would splatter on the ground, as a bullet tore through the back of Reylands head, exiting through his temple as nother rifle report sounded in the distance. The sniper was still there. As the human falls over lifeless, Allie loses her patience.

“I’M COMING FOR YOU MACKEREL! YOU HEAR ME!? I’M COMING FOR YOU!!”

There would be no response, no second shot would ring out. The forest would grow dead quiet once more. Looking down at Reyland, Allie takes her right foot and nudges the body into the grave with a sickening thud. Slinging her rifle over her back she buries the man and begins to head back to camp. She had told Sarahni that she would come over once she had completed her mission, but she couldn’t show up to a noble lady’s house covered in grime and blood, too many questions that would put her at risk. That was something the void elf could not allow. As her thoughts wander, Allie stumbles nearly loses her balance. Standing up straight, she looks back and sees another brick, with another envelope. Narrowing her eyes she picks it up and opens the note.

Void energy lightly erupts in her hand holding the note as she begins to crumple it, allowing it to wither into nothingness before tossing the ashes to her side. She needed to go back to stormwind and refit. Enough was enough.

@dardillien-ward @alyssa-ward @earendelduskmourn @thetobaccoman @westfallhandyman @sarahniholt for mentions @thepaletroll @serelia-evensong

[miyu-hyperfixates]

Train attendant!MDZS AU (part 1)

So I’m currently reading a C novel called Card Room. Which is basically the MC and ML having to go through several survival/puzzle/escape/mystery rooms. And the arc I’m reading right now is about murders occurring on a three-days trip train and the two main characters have to investigate and solve them. In real life, one is a forensic doctor and the other one is a police investigator, so it’s pretty easy for them. In the context of the room though they are impersonating train attendants.

And at some point after discovering the first victim, the forensic doctor rattled a bunch of medical facts and the witnesses around him where like “???” and one of them even went like “Are train attendants really that amazing nowadays? You know medicine?!”

So then a plot bunny emerged in my mind about an universe where aboard a train all staffs are actually hidden (or not so hidden) badasses... Like if you’re familiar with the TV tropes terminology they are all either  Ambiguously Trained or Almighty Janitors.  And because my mind always come back some way or another to MDZS nowadays.

So imagine the MDZS characters... It might be that after canon, all of the characters for some reasons miraculously came back to life and all the cast managed to reach immortality. Or that all of them are actually the reincarnation of the canon characters and remember their past lives (and got the same skills/abilities). Anyway, no matter the reasons, they are all chilling in the modern areas and for some reasons are actually all ‘working’ as staff members of this special train.

Except none of them actually bother to hide their skills or even try to appear normal... Some do try to at least do their jobs but well, with more or less success depending on the person ...So of course pure chaos and mayhem follow!

[Note, this is written in a sort of outsider perspective... So most of the time I use identifiers while referring to characters. The parts in brackets are mostly the thoughts/reactions of the passenger witnessing the general craziness of the MDZS’s characters....

Note 2: Also this is supposed to be pure crack, so please do note take anything seriously. ] 

Coach 1 &16 - the Driver coaches

So one of the thing a passenger on the MDZS Express might notice that the driver carriages are actual very long compared to standard ones. They are like half the length of a passenger carriage, which can usually house up to twenty rows of seats. What does the driver needs such a huge space?  

It is a staff only area so passengers are not allowed to access it. But periodically passengers sitting near the door would able to hear a loud “swooshing” and “thumping” sounds, as if someone was violently swinging a baseball bat in there.

Only few staff members are seen venturing into there. And the driver is hardly seen by anyone.

Most of the time it’s a very handsome man wearing all white clothes with a constant serene smile on his face, who’ll gentle knock on the door carrying foods into the driving carriage. The 1m90 driver will then open the door and welcome the man in, a very soft expression on his usually stern and scary face.

Occasionally a short attendant with a vermilion mark on his forehead, wearing a crisp and sharp uniform (he is probably the only one wearing the proper attendant uniform) and looking very aggravated will knock on the door. Compared as to when the man in white walked in, the atmosphere was definitively full of aggression and tension.

The few times the driver decided to leave his coach, his default expression seemed to be “I’m going to beat someone to death” scowl or something... and the passengers will witness this huge ass man carrying an equally huge ass fake (”It must be fake right? Who’ll allow a driver to carry such a weapon?!”) saber on his back strode down the aisle....the first time it happens all the passengers collectively froze in fear... Random passenger A: terrorist?! Is this a terrorist attack?! Are we all going to die?!

But after a while they got used to it and soon realized that they were always two outcomes to this situation. The terrorist  driver will either disappear for forty to sixty minutes and then come back significantly less tensed. Or he’ll come back less than fifteen minutes later dragging with him a wailing man and muttering something about training. The door will close behind them with a huge slam and then screams of distress could be distinctively heard from inside. (”Is this a murder? Do we need to call the police?!!!”)   

If you’re courageous enough to try to talk to him, when you see him walk by... Don’t ask him for the arrival times, or information about the stations and so on, he’ll just look blankly at you and say “How should I know? Go ask the short bastard.” (Aren’t you the driver of this train?!!!) [By the way if you ask him where the train is going, he’ll answer something like “north”]

Coach 15 - the staff coach

This is also a staff only areas, containing the staff’s offices and beds.

According to some staff members the cabines are soundproof. When asked why they would need such a thing, most of the attendants would shudder violently and mutter something about “everyday”. 

What nearby passengers use to describe this coach is “excessively loud”, “occasionally explosive”, “might cause the entire nearby carriage to shake from the shockwave of whatever is going on in here” and “believe me you don’t want to know”.

So let’s keep it at that. 

Coach 2 -  first-class seat coach

This is actually one of the most low key coach? Apart from being next to the driver carriage (and the drama that comes with it) there isn’t actually much excitement there.

For some reasons this seem to be the less popular coach? Only first-timers (who can afford it) would usually buy those types of tickets.

Recurrent passengers would pick up other coaches, not because it’s too expensive but because this coach is “kinda boring” 

Coach 3&4 - business-class seat coach

Those two coaches are managed by three persons: a married couple and another woman (who seems to be a close friend/sister of the wife?). All of them are wearing Tang dynasty clothes and they looked so classy in it! As if coming straight out of an ancient period drama.

The wife especially is very beautiful, she looks to be in her thirties but she’s actually the mother of the restaurant cook and the scary guy who is always scowling and whose job is unknown, and the adoptive mother of the bartender of the bar. She is also the grandmother of the two young waiters... which made her closer to sixty(”?!” “what is this witchcraft?” “Actually what kind of supreme good genes go through this family?!”)   

By the way... the other female attendant, her close friend? She is the other grandmother of the rich looking waiter in the restaurant car. And of fucking course she looked to be in her mid-thirty. (WTF)

This coach is actually quite popular? One of the reasons is of course because the two beautiful ladies attracted a lot of admirers.

But really like 70% of them are here because they want to witness the show. This coach is known as the scums lashing coach. If anyone dares to do anything improper or is particularly misbehaving, the two kickass ladies will strike them down either with their sharp tongues or with their even sharper martial skills (if the person in question tries to use force) .

It doesn’t matter if the opponent is a 2 meter mountain of muscles, they will knock them down as if it was a troublesome fly.

Regulars with particularly scummy acquaintances  would book this coach tickets hoping that they will act out of hand and be taught a lesson.

Misbehaving and very rude passengers from other coach will also be bumped up or down to the business class by the other attendants. Some of them are probably thinking that they are lucky.... but oh boy are they wrong.     

Meanwhile the husband is just serenely drinking tea in the background... Occasionally he’d ask if they need help getting rid of the trash on the floor.

Coach 5 to 8 - second-class seat coaches

Those coaches’ attendants are probably one of the weirdest combination of personalities.

There’s one man dressed in white who looked super innocent and clueless about basically everything. He is very kind and nice... but don’t try to ask him anything more that the layout of the rows.

Everywhere this man goes, there is always going to be another man looming behind him. This man is dressed completely in black and looks very serious and sorta gloomy. However his face will soften significantly whenever the white dressed man looks at him.

Another attendant from this coach is a blind young girl, carrying a walking stick. She is irreverent sometimes downright rude with a huge potty mouth and for some reasons she’ll always manage to whack the legs of the people making fun of her with her stick. And no assholes she doesn’t care if you want to go complain to her boss. 

And then there’s the psychopath. For some reasons right in the middle of showing you to your seat, or answering one of your question, he’ll randomly take out a knife a play with it, while smiling creepily and staring at you, as if he was picturing how you’ll look with your intestine out of your body.

At this point, the blind girl would smoothly walk over apologize, “I’m sorry he didn’t take his medicine yet.” and out of the blue she’ll whacked him hard in the head with her stick (hard enough that he lost consciousness). “here you go, please enjoy your travel.” Then for good measures she’ll kick him when he’s still down and walk away.

Also because those four coaches house most of the train seats, statistically speaking this is also where the vermilion guy will be. And so, more often than not, you’ll witness the train driver stomping forward and start a fight with the short guy. And whoa is it wild and aggressive. Despite behind a whole head shorter than the driver, he’ll still bite back without fear and words like “strangling to death” or “dismembering” would be throw around.

When it happens the blind attendant would heave a huge exasperated sigh and take out an electronic device before making a general announcement via the train speakers; “To smiley face, meat-head and his royal pain-in-the-ass dimpleness are causing trouble again, please come to couch 5 and deal with them before someone lose their heads because of their bullshits.”

Then less than five minutes later, the man dressed in white would stride in very peacefully, smoothly insert himself between the two fighters and then easily pick them up by the back collar, one in each hand, like particularly misbehaving kitten. (”WTF?!!!! How strong is that guy?!”) He’ll then proceed to walk toward the nearest cupboard and throw them in before locking it and placing a weird looking talisman on the door. (”.........” “Are you exorcising them? What the hell?”)

And for twenty whole minutes no sounds could be heard from the cupboard despite the periodic shockwave on the door as if someone was violently knocking on it.

Two minutes after the ‘knocking’ on the door stopped and then it was cut neatly in half. (”.....”) Allowing the two previously very aggravated people to escape from the cupboard. For some reasons though they looked significantly calmer (”Maybe they fought it out?” “Yeah, sure, that’s what happened”).     

Of course before anyone could react, a youth wearing heavy make-up ran in and wailed, “Nie-zongzhu why do you keep doing this?!! Don’t you know how to use the door? This is the tenth one this week.” The so-called meat-head: Ah... My bad. His royal major pain-in-the-ass dimpleness: Don’t worry, Xuanyu, the cost of the door will be deducted from da-ge’s pay... Though to be honest, considering his destructive track-record... he’ll probably need to be working here for more than three centuries before he’ll actually get any salary. You’d think he’ll learn some restraint after a while. The meat-head: You - Smiley face, smoothly taking both their hands and dragging them away: Okay you two, let’s go eat something. 

The non-specific coaches staff members:

As mentioned before there is exactly one (1) attendants wearing the attendant uniform. He is the most competent and proper staff member (not that it’s very hard, considering who are the competition) and probably the most reliable too (when he is not busy picking fight with huge saber carrying men or being locked up in cupboards). For that reason he is not in charge of a specific coach, but of all the passengers of the trains. His efficient and memory are kinda super scary... If you’re boarding the train in the morning, then rest assured that in the afternoon this attendant will know and remember your name, age, seat numbers, tickets numbers, Id number (from the ID Card that you showed him for like two seconds when he checked your tickets)  and food preference.

The staff member with the serene smile and dressed in white doesn’t seem to have a specific carriage either. The most likely coaches you might find him in are the 2 or 14 coaches (depending on which is closer to the driver), the bar (where he’ll chat with his brother), the coach no.13 where you’ll see him drink tea with his uncle. (This seem to be a huge family business? What’s up with all the kinship between the staffs?! Are they all connected to one another?) Or alternatively you’ll see him accompanying the most perfect employee of the century.

He seems very idle and doesn’t have a specific job? [His official job description entails dealing with NMJ and JGY’s foreplay quarrels and to keep things from turning too R18 rated in the bar... because the bartender and the guqin player are not trusted to keep their wandering hands to themselves in public]  

There is an attendant who is officially in charge of coach 2 or 14 (whichever is further away from the driver) but you’ll never actually see him there. Like he’ll stroll around in every other coaches except the one he is supposed to work in. And because he is dressing very casually you won’t even actually identify him as a staff member. He’ll smoothly insert himself into your passenger group and then happily chat with you. It’s only when the driver will barge in, dragging the attendant out to either “go do your fucking job” or “It’s time to train!” that they’ll realize that the one talking to them was a staff member.

So this attendant will come chat with you and somehow he know private information about you that he shouldn’t possibly know about and casually mention it the conversation, like “Oh, I heard your father got admitted to the hospital, is he better know?” or stuff that even you didn’t know about “Your boyfriend is such a dickhead for shitting on you with your brother.”

Afterwards it will lead to conversation like this: after the attendant had been dragged away “Oh I didn’t know your friend worked on this train!” “My friend? I thought he was yours? I actually never met him.” “Eh? Then how come he knew about your sister going to that concert tomorrow?” “I thought you told him!” “No I didn’t!” “...” “...”  

So scary.

So words spread around about that MDZS Express attendant who seems to know a lot of things and that he can be found in the second-class seat coaches. And so some people specifically book a ticket there to track him down and ask him information.

 But once they managed to corner him, his eyes would get very huge and he’ll frantically shake his head before hiding behind his fan, all the while crying “I don’t know!!! I really don’t know!”

His reaction was so intense that some would actually be taken aback... “Did we get the wrong guy?”

Then the attendant would flee and rush towards another one, “San-ge, please help me!!! Those passengers are bullying me!!!”

He got a very flat look from the ‘San-ge’ in question that seemed to say ‘Are we really still doing this?’, but even though this San-ge showed no sympathy whatsoever he still came to the passenger and told them “We are very sorry for not being able to help you. How about I bump you up to the business class coach as an apology? As a lot of passengers have sneakily tried to enter the business class areas by claiming to being bumped up by our staff members, we have established a password of sort. Once you reach the coach please make sure to find the lady wearing yellow and tell her ‘Don’t you think the dishwasher is an incompetent moron?’... She’ll take care of you. ” 

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Right so this got way longer than expected, so you’ll get the rest of the coaches (restaurants, bar, infirmary, sleeper coaches) in another part.

Like I mentioned above I wrote this in an “outsider” POV so most of the time I didn’t mention any names.... But did you manage to identify all the characters?

Also a lot of characters ‘working’  in the second half of the train have already been mentioned obliquely before. So you know more or less in which coach they are. The only one I didn’t mention is the infirmary... but well I don’t think it’s hard to guess who work there haha.