The Last Mission

Yep, Andre was walking right up to the store himself. What was so scary about this place? His employer could not only fill the entire underground with cement but get away with it. Heck, that dumb kid could hire ninjas, actual NINJAS to set up primitive black powder bombs around this store in the middle of the night. Store gone, Joshua gone, no fuss, only ninjas. This was the curse most people had to bare, the curse of not being Andre Wakeman. It must hurt to wake up every day and know that you weren't him. Andre turned the knob and walked into the store. The ring of his chains punctuated his arrival as he closed the door behind him.

The place looked quaint. Lots of knickknacks and tourist souvenirs. Some books in the center, some dolls and stuff on the right and some jewelry on the left. Andre sauntered over to the left, adjusting his shades as he walked. He grabbed one of the hand-made dolls off the shelf as well as a book from the opposite shelf. With that same cocky swagger, he approached the counter. He put the doll and the book on the counter and waited for some service.

Joshua Langford

When random kids burst into his shop, raving about things like asshole brothers and assassination attempts, Joshua wasn't normally one to take them at face value. For one, there were a lot of crazy people on the island. True fact, it was, even if plenty of people refused to acknowledge it. For another, there were a lot of violet crazy people on the island. Sometimes they said things but a lot of the time, they couldn't actually do anything even if they wanted to. If anything, they usually ended up only hurting themselves and Joshua really didn't want any part of that. It was just a waste of energy to get involved, plus some crazy people were actually crazy enough to know how to press charges against a perfectly innocent bystander.

What managed to catch his attention this time, however, was the fact that said random kid wasn't raving about being assassinated by his brother. He was raving about Joshua being assassinated by his brother. Which was certainly a major difference that warranted a little more of the shopkeeper's attention. Obviously, he liked living. But he still couldn't find it in himself to take the kid completely seriously at first, because really.

I'm a shopkeeper. I just sit here and make things and sometimes sell them at ludicrously fair prices because my drunkard lawyer wouldn't stop pestering me until I did. Was anybody really going to take an issue with that? Honestly? The only people that Joshua had ever had problems with were the people who brought really high tech stuff into his shop without bothering to read the sign. The sign which was clearly there. The sign which a drunk could read perfectly fine while stumbling around at three in the morning.

The same sign which a stupid spoiled blonde brat had disregarded some time ago, and suddenly, Joshua was a whole lot more receptive to the idea that this random kid had told him the truth. Still, the man had to wonder. Would somebody really hire a hitman for something as petty as just not liking somebody else's powers? The answer seemed to be YEAH, YOU THINK?

God, the man thought in pseudo prayer, I know that You probably don't hate me but I really think that this island does.

So, well. He did some preparations and waiting around. Mainly, he just outlined strategies in his head, mentally marking out how he would make curtains of dark matter to protect his shop. He was going to make it out just fine, Joshua was sure. It was just going to take some work, which was always annoying but whatever.

When he heard somebody enter, he peered at that person from behind a veil of dark matter which hid him from sight. Since the blindness went both ways, sound was the only way he could judge when to drop a small part of it to take a look. There was cockiness and arrogance in the way this person walked. Joshua thought this was probably the so called hitman. Or one of them, anyways. Apparently there were two.

Good grief, my life.

The man supposed that he actually had to face this problem head on. As much as he didn't like doing that, he had to admit that there was something about having a very real target on his back which made him feel unusually aggressive. If he didn't snip that silly girl's vengeance in the bud, then it would probably be totally blown out of proportion anyways.

He kept the dark matter ready above him as he dropped the veil and left the far corner of the shop, in case he needed to quickly deflect anything. Even though it would have been practical to not give up the element of surprise, there was still a chance that this was just another normal customer and if Joshua made the first move, then people could potentially build a case against him based on that.

I'm too nice, the man lamented. I should just be a jerk who doesn't give a damn.

"Hey, sorry for the wait," he said to the maybe assassin as he took his place behind the old fashioned cashier. "I was doing some dusting in the back. Will this be all?"

He was not an impressive individual, this Joshua. It was almost shocking that someone so mundane could be considered a threat. Granted, Andre's digital watch died somewhere on the way to the counter. He wouldn't need the watch, though. Someone this unappealing? This bland? This harmless? It was a good thing his employer was so paranoid, more easy missions for excessive pay was always good in Andre's book. Speaking of books...

"Yeah, I found everything I'd need. Doll's for a friend, and she's a real doll too. The book? That's just something I can kill you with."

Andre laughed, pulling out his wallet and fishing around in it indecisively. Cash or credit? Cash or credit? Cash or credit? After a few seconds he decided on cash. He had some bills, some change... There were no price tags on the book or the doll and he didn't read the price displays, Joshy here could tell him! Andre cleared his throat after his little laugh and gave what would've been a disarming smile if he wasn't so blunt about his intent earlier.

"So how much for both of these? Or are the prices negotiable?"

Asshole in its purest form. Andre didn't even look out the window for Lenn. If she was out there she would probably get a front row seat of Andre being fantastic and looking good while doing so.

Joshua Langford

Joshua stared at the man for a moment. Did he just say kill? I'm pretty sure he just said kill. But then he was laughing it off like it was some joke, which made the shopkeeper doubt his intentions all over again. Actually, you know what? I'm just going to maintain a healthy suspicion over everybody in general now. It seemed like a reasonable option, all things considered.

"Sorry, the prices are non-negotiable," Joshua said, outwardly pretending as if nothing had happened. "My friend already badgered me into making them so fair that I don't even know how he expects me to make a living these days." He glanced at the objects that the man had picked up, feeling a little twinge of annoyance at seeing that he had taken one of the dolls. Hey, I actually put time into making those... For some reason, it really irked him that this guy was trying to buy it. Or pretend to buy it. Whichever one. Let's just assume he's a problem. Yeah. That seems like a good idea.

Resting his palms on the counter, he said, "It's forty for the doll and twenty for the book." If there was an attack coming, he wanted to have his hands free. Not that he needed gestures to work with dark matter but for his peace of mind, it really was for the best.

Discreetly, he began setting up invisible curtains over the back of the shop. It wouldn't do for anything of importance to get broken, after all.

Andre reached into his wallet and pulled out three twenties. "Sixty total? Here you go, thanks." He put the three bills on the counter in front of Joshua, then picked up the book. "And to show just how swell a guy I am..." As Andre spoke, he turned and walked four paces back from Joshua and the counter before turning with a dramatic point at his victim. "...I won't even steal my money back after I kill you." Dead Kennedys manifested with an ominous rush of air and what sounded like the hiss of steam escaping a kettle. Andre handed the hefty tome off to what looked like a looming, metallic specter. "Ending a schmuck with a book I just bought from his store, now that's worth Sixty big ones." Dead Kennedys quickly began moving its hands. With each swoop of its hands, Dead Kennedys pulled an exact duplicate of the book out of the original. Andre crossed his arms, seeming to lean back smugly as Dead Kennedys began throwing duplicate tomes at an upsetting rate. Each swoop of its hands and Dead Kennedy created and threw another duplicate book towards Joshua. The force of the books caused them to crack and splinter the counter or actually smash through the wood paneling on the walls.

There was no rhyme or reason to the attack, just a wild and seemingly limitless barrage of large, fast moving projectiles. "Predictable..." The counter itself warped and rose up with a sound like someone striking a flat chord on an electric guitar. Several duplicate books slammed into the reshaped counter, sticking into it and splintering the wood. "Well then, that's pretty depressing." Andre dropped the original copy of the book as Dead Kennedys pulled back, seeming to sink down into him. "He got you to keep him safe? Damn this guy's desperate!"

The counter burst into pieces below the register, a buckshot of splinters and wood particles spraying out at Andre. Dead Kennedys moved between the explosion and Andre, wood falling off as Up To Me flung himself forward. There was a loud clanging sound as the two robotic forms slammed into each other and began to grapple. Ian Wakeman charged from under the counter, towards his older brother, hoping that he'd have his chance to try and take him out early. "CANDLE-SNIFFING FUCK-FENCE!" The two collided much as Dead Kennedys and Up To Me did, sending Andre slamming back first into one of the shelves.

What had started as a very clean operation had gone to hell quite fast. Andre's initial attack and Ian's counterattack had obscured the view of Joshua and gave him time to head into the back of the store. Now Andre was distracted by his kid brother jumping out to attack him!

Joshua Langford

At first attack, the dark matter began to reroute the books into their gravity, suspending the first dozen or so above Joshua's head. As quickly as he could, the shopkeeper fled the counter before the weight of the books exceeded the strength of the gravitational force. As he did, he directed the matter to spread out again, weakening the force and causing all of the objects caught in it to fall to the ground. With himself out of the way, it also gave Ian a clear opportunity to come out of hiding.

Gez, this family must be pretty messed up. Which was. Maybe or maybe not hypocritical of him to think. Watching the two brothers fight, it seemed like both of them were on pretty equal ground with one another. If I try and attack one, is the other one going to get caught in it, too? That was a question he had been considering for some time. After all, it wasn't like Joshua was used to having people fight his battles. It actually felt pretty surreal now that it was happening.

Well, he definitely couldn't just stand around and let things go to hell. Not when they were in his shop. With a quick, silent order, Joshua condensed the dark matter around the hitman's head, manipulating the gravity in such a way that it sucked in the light and effectively created a blindfold.