[semi-open]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

CHARACTERS: Mordecai, Lilith, Jack, Raven, Edgeworth, Michelle, Soysauce
LOCATION: Lilith's room, then elsewhere
WARNINGS: Language, violence, idk
SUMMARY: Jump 14 brought in Handsome Jack. The Vault Hunters want him dead. Jack wants them dead. There might be a problem here.
NOTES: Backdated to shortly after the jump. See this OOC post if you wish to join in, particularly if your character is a member of SEC.

Jack.

Mordecai had never expected to see that masked bastard again. Not after everything he and Lilith and the others had all gone through to kill him. Sure, he'd heard of the dead turning up alive again onboard the Tranquility, but he hadn't exactly been prepared to see a post from Jack turn up on the network. And trying to play the role of the innocent victim, too - though he couldn't imagine many would fall for that.

Still, it wasn't all bad, Jack's appearance. The man was a tyrant, yes, and profited off the exploitation of Pandora, wanted its residents dead, and to top it off, had personally wronged Mordecai a few times too many. His having turned up here meant one thing, though. It gave him a chance to kill Jack himself. To seek his own revenge. Lilith had had her turn, and she'd deserved her moment of victory, and it was a shame it hadn't lasted. Mordecai would make it stick.

Neither he nor Lilith had replied to Jack's message, of course. Hopefully nobody would blow their cover while they scrambled to organize. He wasn't worried about giving him a fair fight, because Jack had lost that opportunity to play fair a long time ago. If he and Lilith could track him down and kill him before the asshole ever knew they were there, it was all the better.

Mordecai was alone, for the first time in a long time - his bird was too young and too inexperienced to be anything more than another tool for Jack to use against him. He wasn't going to let anything like that happen again. Rather than let the bird bore itself in his room and start shredding things, he'd dropped him off with Jaye before heading to Lilith's room. He tapped a brief knock at her door, and waited.

Comments

this is for jack i guess!

[shoyu]

Gunfire. Now, that was a sound he hadn't heard out of the blue in a while. Soysauce found that his patrols usually ended quite peacefully, not much worth reporting in most cases. And this should have been another quiet patrol around the corridors -- up until the moment he heard gunshots ringing off in the distance. It only took him a moment to pinpoint what direction the sounds were coming from, and Soysauce immediately sprinted down the hallway, revolver in hand and finger ready to take off the safety.

His shoes squeaked against the floor as he turned the corner, almost slipping from how quickly he tried to move, and Soysauce stared for a moment, taking in the scene. Someone he recognized -- Mordecai. And a woman he didn't recognize. And someone he'd briefly seen on the network. Guns pointed at each other. Ah, that wasn't good.

"Security. Please stop and lower your weapons!" It must have been startling, hearing that sharp demand out of nowhere. Even before the smoke from those previous gunshots died down, Soysauce had his gun out and pointed at the closest person -- Jack, the man he wasn't really familiar with -- as he cautiously drew closer, keeping his gaze fixed nervously on the others as he approached. "-- Mister Mordecai, ma'am, I'm not sure what's going on here, but I'm afraid I'll have to stop you." His gaze turned to Jack, his grip on his revolver tightening as he added, "You too, sir."

[handsomejack]

Soysauce managed to... annoy Jack. One double down, and the other wouldn't take long to disappear either, and this guy was just getting in the damn way.

Yeah. He didn't care what they did to him once he murdered both Lilith and Mordecai. He needed this. He wanted it. They needed to not be living right now. Jack glared at the stranger, teeth clenched, turning his gun briefly to face this man that claimed "security". This rent-a-cop did not want to get in the middle of this. That was a big mistake.

With lack of a moral compass, Jack was ready to pull the trigger. It didn't matter that this man had nothing to do with this. He didn't even want to warn him. If this guy shot him back- he had a state-of-the-art shield that'd likely take the brunt of it. With any luck, the dude would fall dead to the ground and Jack could just go on about his business.

That's when an arrow grazed his hand. Instead of letting his gun go, he squeezed it harder-- causing him to shoot. Lucky for Soysauce, it made Jack miss. Barely. "AUGH!" He brought his second hand up to hold his wounded hand. A white blade followed through to hit his gun... which successfully hit it away from his hand. Son of a bitch.

[shoyu]

As much as Soysauce tried to be polite and mindful and courteous at all time, there were definitely limits to how long he could be so well-mannered. Having a gun pointed directly at him brushed up against those lines. Being shot at definitely crossed those limits.

The sudden flash of something white (paper?) going whizzing by startled Soysauce as much as it surprised Jack, and the fact that he reflexively jerked back a half-step probably helped him to avoid the sharp crack of Jack's gun. The bullet went streaking past his arm, just barely grazing his shoulder, and Soysauce immediately decided that this was no longer the time for diplomacy.

The moment that gun fell from Jack's hand and clattered to the floor, Soysauce kicked it sharply, sending it skittering several feet away. His own gun, he kept with the safety on. After all, security was meant to protect, not to kill. And as much as hand-to-hand non-lethal combat wasn't his forte -- well. One could always improvise.

Letting the momentum of that hard kick carry him forward, Soysauce lunged forward to give a wide-armed swing of his revolver, aiming to slam the butt of the gun against Jack's jaw. A blow that would certainly stun a man, but not enough to break any bones or kill.

[handsomejack]

In moments, Jack's gun dissolved into blue pixelation. He had at this point brought his attention towards whoever sent the blades and arrow his way-- and before he could say anything, Soysauce was taking his chance to attack him. Jack stepped back, dodging the gun with a growl.

"Out of the way, cupcake. You're attacking the wrong damn guy." He grunted, making it a point not to attack back. This party was officially busted, and he rose his hands up. Now that he, himself, was unarmed... he had no reason to want to kill the guy because he'd have to regroup to change his target back to the original bandit trash he had his eyes on.

What he needed to do now was look like the victim.

"They ambushed me, man. Self-freaking-defense."

[shoyu]

He could feel the way the revolver's handle came so, so close to striking against Jack's jaw, just barely missing when Jack reeled out of the way. Stomping a foot down as he regained his balance from the followthrough of that attack, Soysauce made to try and take down Jack once more -- before screeching to a halt the moment he saw that hands-raised defenseless gesture.

"-- an ambush?" Soysauce still sounded tense, though, and he couldn't help glancing at his shoulder for a moment. The bullet had torn through his sleeve, scraping a shallow wound across his shoulder, and there was blood starting to blotch red against the fabric. Aah, that was another shirt ruined. A small sigh before Soysauce looked back to Jack, carefully pointing his revolver at Jack's legs as a safety measure.

"Whatever the reason was, we frown upon violent fights, here. I'll have to ask you -- and the others involved -- to cooperate with us."

[handsomejack]

He breathed to calm himself. C'mon, Jack. You can pull this off.

"...Alright. ...Sorry about your shoulder." He nodded, looking slightly apologetic. "I'd help you restrain them... but, if I touch 'em they're going to want to finish what they started." He motioned to his assassin. The one that nearly got him to death's door to begin with. "See that woman there? Her name's Lilith. She's especially dangerous... she's got powers that can melt your face off. I'll give you my word I wont draw out a gun. I'll cooperate, as long as you render these two unable to attack." He looked at Soysauce in the eyes. "We got a deal?"

[shoyu]

"... melt your face off." He sounded confused as he echoed those words, brows furrowed. Not that he doubted the possibility of it. He'd certainly met more than a handful of people aboard the ship who were probably possible of such things. Listening to Jack's words with great concentration, his whole body tense with anxious energy, Soysauce held Jack's gaze for a long moment before finally giving a small nod.

"I -- understand, sir. But please keep in mind that if you attempt to act violently any more, I may have to hold you back more violently." A slow, tense exhale before he aimed his revolver away from Jack's leg, more towards the floor, and looked over towards Lilith, taking his attention off Jack for the moment. "Please elaborate on her abilities?"

[handsomejack]

"For one she can turn invisible and give off energy bursts." He responded with a shrug. It seemed his cooperation got the security official to trust him a bit. Good. Now to milk it. "She's... a lot more dangerous than she looks... be careful."

[shoyu]

Soysauce, of course, held no suspicions about this sudden cooperation. After all, this man had said he'd be docile -- no reason he'd be lying, right? Right? Looking over nervously towards where Lilith was being apprehended by the others, Soysauce tried not to show how uneasy he was about having to face someone capable of giving off 'energy bursts.' "May I ask the why you were fighting?"

[handsomejack]

"We have a history." He didn't feel the need to get into details right now, but he knew he had to give Soysauce something. "Like I said, they ambushed me. I didn't even know they were here. I knew they want my head, so I needed to give myself a fighting chance against them. I just barely survived my last near death experience executed by that woman over there by being brought here in the first place. I didn't want to relive what I just went through. Talk about buzzkill."

[shoyu]

"Ah, I see. I'm -- sorry to hear that." Even in that short response, it was obvious enough that Jack's answer had bought him some measure of sympathy, and Soysauce seemed to wilt a bit. Unwilling to point a gun at someone who seemed to have such a distressing story. A nervous pause before Soysauce nodded, turning to look towards where the others were, pointing his gun in that direction instead. Leaving his back to Jack as he spoke tensely, "Then -- I believe it may be necessary to help them stop her. So, if you'll please follow behind me."

[handsomejack]

"You got it," He crossed his arms over his chest, following close by.

Jack knew how to play the game. Right now, as predicted, the bandits were acting downright psychotic. At the end of the day-- who was going to side with who? The former Vault Hunters that started the whole mess and are spewing tall tales with clear intentions of violence, or the man who was the victim in the entire situation who told just enough detail to gain himself sympathy?

He'd get his revenge. After seeing his death right before him before, Jack had become slightly sober to the fact that he couldn't rush into things. Did he want to kill Mordecai and murder Lilith? You bet'cha. But, in due time. Right now he was enjoying the fact that they were so irate about his existence on the ship, that it was enough to tide him over until he had the chance to destroy them both.