It was always a joy to watch her sisters have fun with farmers, small groups of travelers and even the occasional band of so-called ‘raiders’. No matter how much people tried to show that they were tough, it was always a façade to cover how scared they truly were. Granted some of them did actually try to defend their belongings, but the results were always the same and those belongings became Amazon property. This was the same case for this farm and its delicious food now ripe for the picking.

At Maxine’s request Syn nodded. “It would be a pleasure.” Thoughts of hopefully finding some goods that were already made and waiting for them filled her mind as the temptress slid off her dog and grabbed her bag. She didn’t need a boost from their Russian sister as Syn’s power was more than enough to fill the house with her influence.

At one time she had filled a semi-still standing office building and made most of its unsuspecting occupants think everyone else in the building was the enemy. Much chaos ensued until only a couple barely alive remnants remained. They were easily dispatched and the building was cleaned out of anything useful or tradable by the Amazons.

Approaching the house Syn decided to save what few bullets she had and pulled out the bone sword Isabel had crafted for her. It was a truly amazing thing her old friend could do. Bone with the strength of steel? She always admired Issie’s ability.

Standing to the left of the door and away from any window she called out to any possible occupants. “Girl Scouts! Would you like to trade for some cookies?”

A mischievous smile lit his face at the more brass and fool hardy brother tried to play five identical aces, it was quite the hand and for the record won the day in his book. Aedus slide on a pair of mint condition sunglasses, and slide off his coat, he would have taken more of here if he had the chance, he ahead going lava mode and ruining good leather, but then there would be time for that on the way. He went by a different name these days. Eruption. It was fitting and mad as much difference as anything else.

When the bomb went off most of his family had been in the city and he was related to a ridiculous amount of people in Jorge town. His family would still call him Aedus here and there but he didn’t respond to much of it. He couldn’t be the carefree playboy he once was, he was only a fiery pillar of security and that was all. The world had hallowed him out and made only room for pitiless decision making. Protect those on the inside and make harsh calls on all those who opposed them. they were heading toward the farms…farms they had tried to convince they should be in the walls, between the mutants they had, it would have been child’s play to grow crops there. But for the life of them, they couldn’t convince the majority that they were better off inside than out, they considered it a different kind of trap. The crops would become town property instead of their to trade.

Perhaps today, they would change their minds if whatever scavenger was out there wasn’t killing them as they rode to their rescue. The earth disk they stood on was impressive; it proceeded on a rolling wave of sands towards their destination. He nodded his thanks to abyss as the man knew he valued the clothes he had and wouldn’t want them to go to waste. They kept recommending their gladiatorial gear, but he didn’t care for where sand and dirt got to when all you wore was war skirts and bracers.

Aedus disrobed as they went and tossed his articles of clothing into the void and let a dark smile play at his lips, he stood only in his raggedy boxer shorts but he was warmer than usual. He was letting the heat from within rage beneath, he would get to erupt and soon.

The disk left a nice haze behind them, it felt like an old western, the good guys were blazing a trail and leaving a plume of dust in their wake to settle.

The little deity didn't know what had come over her. She thought at first that she would just eat one, then get to work. But... it was so good! She crawled over to the strawberry plants and grabbed another. A second one couldn't hurt. And if a second one didn't hurt, a third shouldn't either. Or a fourth... or an eighth...

The saddlebags made a soft thwomp as they landed on the ground next to her head, jolting her back to the real world. Right. She had a job to do. "Yes ma'am!" She looked up at her dear leader and smiled, bits of strawberry showing on her teeth.

But she didn't want to do that job alone. While everyone else did their respective jobs, Kaitlyn picked up a bag and approached the idiot who was doing the force field thing earlier. It seemed like he was still conscious, if a little bit disoriented. He had managed to sit up again after going toe-to-toe with the little Amazon, and he was currently struggling to load some bullets into a small revolver, fumbling and dropping the bullets on the ground most of the time. Since the main force had retreated so far back when faced with Aura's assault, this man was seperated from the others, and, apparently, forgotten by the other Amazons. Not that he was really much of a threat anymore, anyway.

"Nice gun." The girl dropped her bag at his feet, then easily snatched the revolver out of his hands. "Let's trade. Give me the rest of your bullets, and I'll give you this bag so you can help me pack some strawberries. That sound good to you?"

The poor man was really disoriented. He seemed to struggle to even keep his eyes on the girl. After taking a few moments to formulate his response, he managed to shake his head 'no.' Kaitlyn responded to this by hitting him across the face with the butt of the pistol. "Too bad." She then pointed the revolver at his face with one hand, and held out the other to accept his ammunition donation. "Hand it over."

Very hesitantly, the abused force-field mutant reached into his pockets, retrieved about a dozen bullets, and dropped them in the girl's open palm. "Thank you," she said sweetly, putting her prize in one of the few pockets of hers that didn't have a hole in it. "Now..." at this point, the girl realized how much this man would struggle with even the simple task of grabbing a few strawberries. "Eh, screw it. Hey, you!"

She pointed at the idiot who'd shot her in the chest earlier, interrupting his regularly scheduled cowering and whimpering before Aura and Kitra. He looked up at the girl and pointed to himself, with a confused look on his face, as if to say 'do you mean me?'

"Yeah, you! We're in a hurry here. Places to go, people to kill. You don't want to be one of them, help me get some berries in this bag." He hesitated. The little girl pointed her new gun at him. "Now!"

The farmer ran over, grabbed the bag, and got to work as quickly as he could.

Kaitlyn was about to grab another bag and get working herself, when she realized how much better it would be to just make the others do that job for her. Why get her hands dirty? She waved her gun at another farmer. "You, too! Get going!"

With a self-satisfied smirk, she watched her newly acquired help get to work, and she appreciated the weight of her new gun in her hands.

Today was a good day.

Jorge sighed as he finished his prayer and slowly began to replace the necklace with the crucifix and wedding back into its hiding place. He never liked to be parted with these items but it was always a fear that exactly that would happen when he was out in the field, especially when he used his powers. That was why he kept a small, wooden box hidden underneath his alter in order to keep them safe.

Gently he pulled hidden box out and slipped the items in. He set about hiding it underneath his altar when the voice of his deputy rebounded in his ears.

>> "Jorge! Something's up!"[/color]

Immediately the detective looked up. He knew that something was going to happen, things had been far too quiet lately to not. What was it now? The town under attack? One of the citizens attempting to get too uppity? Maybe the outlaying farms needed help? He wouldn’t be surprised. Time and time again he tried to convince them the safety of working inside the town but they wanted to keep their independence. Jorge was not going to take that away from them.

The choice was theirs, and even if they decided to live on the outskirts, that did not mean he was not going to do the right thing. He would help them. After all, in a world such as this, that did not meant he couldn’t be civil to his neighbors.

Checking his hip holster, he felt his Smith and Wesson 686 Magnum. Last he checked it had full rounds. That was the good thing about being a police officer at the end of the world, he was able to grab what he could once he made the decision to live. Thankfully he did his best to not rely on his gun too much in order to conserve rounds. After three years, even his stockpile of ammo was beginning to run low.

Once he checked to make sure his gun was safely holstered, Jorge exited the tent. He was just in time to see that Gina had already taken off, following Zelek and Eruption as they flew off on discs of minerals. Judging by the fact that they were flying, the issue had to stem from one of the outlying farms.

He stalked around the edge of his tent and nodded to the only other creature that he trusted in this town besides Gina…his black percheron horse , Neptune. A former carriage horse, Jorge stumbled across him when he first came to Central Park and found the poor beast with remains of the carriage still attached to it. He managed to free the creature but it took a full year before he would fully gain the animal’s trust. Another year went by before he learned to actually ride the creature but with constant training, he soon became proficient at it. Now, Neptune was one of his trusted allies. They cared for each other and both had saved one another’s lives more often than they could count.

Softly he rubbed the horse’s muzzle as he walked around, grabbed onto the horses faded, worn saddle, and hefted himself onto the creature’s back. Thankfully, with some careful trading, he was able to find both a saddle and reins in useable condition.

A pat to the horse’s mane and Jorge clicked his tongue as the tapped the animal’s flanks with his heels.

“Come on, Neptune. Yah!” he announced with immediately set the horse into a gallop through the town. In no time he was catching up to Gina and gave her a quick wave to show that he was following. Time to see what the ruckus was about today…

Miles eyes were closed as this had taken a lot of concentration. He was sitting cross-legged behind the half wall in the kitchen, with his rifle in his lap and his hands gently placed over it. Astor was in an alert stance, closer to the door and ready to pounce at any intruder that made it past the sofa. His ears were perked and Miles had been using them to listen to what had been going on outside, right after he heard the shotgun go off.

While the large boxer's ears were not as sharp as Tinaker's, they were sharper than his and Miles figured he could at least gain some intelligence on the raiders, mostly because peeking through the curtains was unwise. He had opted instead to base his information gathering on sounds and voices alone.

A woman spoke in some other language and Miles raised a finger in his hand, trying to keep count on how many different voices he heard. It was difficult to discern everything they were saying, but he understood 'fools won't stand a chance' quite clearly, raising another finger and wincing at the sound of gunfire suddenly going off.

He didn't hear any of the women giving out a death cry though.

'...any takers?' Miles raised a third finger, realizing whatever hope he had to defend himself with a rifle could be easily countered by at least some of the amazons.

'...wrap. Harvest time, ladies!' This voice had a commanding tone to it and was pretty much telling the others what to do. Miles wondered who could she be, but the moment he heard her ask 'Lady Syn' to follow her around, all doubts left his mind.

Queen Maxine was out in the field.

He raised two fingers, one for the queen and the other for the 'girl scout', as he managed to hear one last voice. It was higher than the rest, like that of an innocent child, but after hearing the sort of things she was demanding of the farmers, all of a sudden she seemed as innocent as 'Hit Girl' from that 'Kickass' movie.

Six Amazons and those were only the ones he heard but if the queen herself was around, chances were likely the entire pack was at work. He had no idea if his own pack would be ready for the whole lot of them.

Concentrating again, Miles focused his senses not on Astor, but on his other dog, who was being followed by several townies. He could see Zelek, Markus, Eruption, the Abissi shouldn't be far behind and far in the distance, he could hear the clopping hoofs of a horse, closing in. He made Tinaker look up and there she was, hovering in the sky.

Gina.

That gave him an idea.

"Tinaker, stop!" he commanded voicelessly through their mental link and the dog came to a sudden halt. They had reached a rather wide dirt patch of not too soft yet not too hard soil, excellent for what he had in mind. He couldn't make his dog speak, he didn't know any morse code and to have his dog express 'there are Amazons raiding the farms, at least six of them, with queen Maxine among them, move your butts!' was too much to ask for his loyal canine.

"Run around in a wide circle. Once, twice, several times. Stop when I tell you to stop"

The dog complied and once Miles noticed he'd run over his own tracks a few times, he ordered his thrall to stop.

"Turn around and walk out of the circle, with small, heavy steps".

Tinaker obeyed and what must have seemed as a sudden fit of insanity from the animal had a clearer meaning if seen from a distance.

'A' is for 'Amazons', people!

The young mutant ordered his dog to continue running towards the farms as he opened his eyes.

Katrina left the Amazons at the farm, grateful to Maxine each and every time she reminded her followers that killing meal tickets was costly as hell. Even if it wasn't for the same reasons that Katrina herself avoided killing, it still helped having someone the girls would listen to remind them not to murder if it could be helped at each and every raid.

Invisible, the little illusionist slipped off the back of the turquoise paper dog and left him with his mistress to help clear out the farm. Carefully, she picked her way toward the town, staying to the sides of the street as best she could. It was shady there and she was less likely to get a sunburn; even if she was invisible and consciously erasing her own shadow, the sunlight still found her and tried to toast her alive. Stupid pale skin.

Halfway there, she saw a strange sight. A gargoyle flying overhead, a young man in tattered skivvies surfing a wave of sand, a riding police officer galloping toward them, seven red men with monkey tails, a bald guy, and a dog... drawing a big letter 'a' in the sand. She could guess what that stood for fairly easily. She knew all of them except the bald man and the dog; and knew that they were some of the worst the town had to offer. The cavalry was coming and if they figured out what the writing in the sand meant, they knew who they were about to tangle with.

She caught a glimpse of one more figure, right behind the almost naked Aedus. Katrina shuddered. Even after something like nine years, the black haired, green eyed vampire still scared her silly.

The illusionist ducked behind the shell of an abandoned yellow Beetle. It had a young sapling growing out the middle of it's skylight, so it wasn't going anywhere soon. She cursed the fact that she couldn't make people hear and un-hear at the same time. She had to drop her invisibility briefly to send her message. Under the car loose pages of blood-red paper quivered, expectantly. It was a trap, but not for her. Katrina closed her eyes and pictured the Queen of the Amazons in her mind's eye. She imagined her own voice, whispering in Maxine's ear.

Company is coming. She named all the fighters she had seen. Practically a family reunion. We've got the Abyss brothers, the Gargoyle, Fire, Water, and little Toto, too. Tell the ladies to grab stakes, if the farmers are using them for tomatoes or anything; they have Edward Cullen with them. And some bald guy. I don't know him.

She couldn't hear Maxine's reply, of course. Her illusion messages only went one way. She hoped Her Majesty would take her advice about the stakes seriously.

Her message complete, she rolled back out from under the car, once more under the cover of her invisibility illusion. The oncoming army was almost on top of her. And the red paper that lay in wait.

The illusionist slipped down an alley so she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire and continued on her merry way toward the town. There was about to be a ruckus out at the farm, and it would provide a very, very good distraction for most of the town's protectors.

The feeling of the wind blowing in his face while flying on the disc was not taken in strides by Markus, instead he was preparing for whatever task may lay ahead of him. To him the world weighed on his shoulders, not just his but the world of everyone who had taken up residence in the Town. He wished no harm upon them and sought to stomp out ruthlessness and the evil that may pervert or destroy any of the townsfolk. Markus could smell the tension in the air by now, they were closing on on something that may be bigger than he thought it to be, something that might be too big to handle, but what could stand in the way of a group of mutants like themselves?

With that thought in mind he began to list possible scenarios and people that could interlock with those scenarios. Possible raiders, reasons for attacking, etc, but the main thing that stayed with him, was the hope and determination, to keep any of these problems from reaching home to the Town, the less problems, the better. Markus could not bare to loose any more than he already had.

Don't kill the growers. Isabel could manage that. Occasionally it was hard to tell elemental muties from the rest, but most of the time they were stereotypically visible, particularly the plant muties, with green skin or leaves for hair or something equally as telling. She figured such valuable members of the farming communities would be well protected and possibly hidden away whenever the farmers caught wind of incoming trouble anyway. It wouldn't do any good to put them in harm's way. Sure, they could likely fight, but what would they have to fight with as effectively as the available resources, those being the crops they were trying to protect? Didn't make much sense to use them as weaponry, and even then it exposed the Growers to potential harm. She was wiling to bet it'd just be the farm hands they'd be tangling with, and that was simple enough.

Guns didn't scare her, even if their possessors were willing to waste their bullets. While her skin could still be damaged, they'd be hard pressed to do any sort of serious bodily damage to her. She could easily take a shot and keep on walking. However, Kitra and Aura seemed to be dealing with that mild inconvenience either way, so she was free to assist in picking crops with the others, as well as picking off any farmer stupid enough to get in her way.

She had by that time lowered herself onto her own two feet, the six spindly legs framing her body, two poised over her shoulders, two situated beside her ribs, and the last pair resting just below her hips all ready to strike or lift her once more if need be. She didn't have to worry about her feet getting cut up while treading on farm land. The ground had to be relatively soft and moist to best grow crops, so there wouldn't be much debris to harm her.

From her hand sprouted a length of closely knit mesh-like sheet of bone which curved itself into a sort of pouch she could fill with goods. She couldn't help popping a strawberry or two into her mouth every so often as she, too, targeted the berries for as her first item to gather. She hadn't quite been able to get herself to swallow any of the concoction that Allison had attempted to serve them for breakfast, and as such her stomach had remained uncomfortably empty as the Amazons had set out. She'd never tasted strawberries so sweet before and had to fight to keep herself from shoving whole handfuls of the things into her mouth.

She seemed to be targeting the sweeter things in the garden, such as the few blueberry and raspberry bushes she found as well, the mesh bag knitting itself a little more tightly together to prevent the smaller foods from slipping through the gaps. Items such as carrots, cucumbers, and potatoes got their own pouch to prevent them squashing the more delicate goods. Her six additional limbs came in handy for hooking the bags onto as they were filled, leaving at least one of her hands free for picking at all times.

She was just popping a small cherry tomato into her mouth when something in the distance caught her eye. An odd rooster tail was floating into the air, seemingly throw up from something heading in their direction if her judgment of its movement was correct. She straightened her posture from her picking to see if she couldn't get a better look. It seemed as if they'd have some company before to long. She twisted around, seeing if she could locate Maxine and determine what their next plan of action would be. Fight or flight?

>> “Girl Scouts! Would you like to trade for some cookies?”

The redhead tossed back her head, and laughed. Oh, Syn. She might be a constant power threat: like Maxine, the pheromone mistress knew power, and wanted to roll in it like a set of silk sheets. But at least she was a fun power threat. And what a lovely mix of old and new world humor that had been: Girl Scout cookies, for trade.

Without any further ado, the Amazon's queen gave their window the royal boot.

Pro tip: shutters are easier to break than fortified doors. And once they're out of the way, it's just a bit of old fashioned fishing to find the door's bolt, and throw it open.

Then a lady can enter with proper grace.

Maxine paused, half way in the threshold, her head tilting slightly to the side. "Do you want to head in first, and work your magic on the huddled masses?" She said to Syn, distractedly. "I've got to take a message."

The redhead took a step away, staring at Kaitlyn's delightful reversal of child exploitation, but not really seeing it: she was listening hard to something that no one else could hear.

>> Company is coming. Practically a family reunion. We've got the Abyss brothers, the Gargoyle, Fire, Water, and little Toto, too. Tell the ladies to grab stakes, if the farmers are using them for tomatoes or anything; they have Edward Cullen with them. And some bald guy. I don't know him.

Her lips twisted down for just a moment; just as quickly, they flipped back up into a wry smirk, and she raised her voice.

"Listen up, ladies. Sherriff Holier-Than-Thou and Deputy Do Good are on their way, with the Reds, Eruption, Sparkles, and their little dog, too. You'd think we'd interrupted their poker game, with how quick they're coming to stop our fun."

"Let's get the food packed and on the dogs before they get here. Anyone who'd like to stay for the party has my blessings, after that. Isabel, Aura, am I right in thinking you'd like to have a little dance before heading home?"

With a human fireball and a human hose on the way, she had to get her dogs out of here, and fast: no need to avert a perfectly good fight, though. It had been awhile since the ladies had gotten to let loose against someone competent. Just so long as the dogs took the food back to base, their work here was done.

The rest of the day was play time.

Maxine turned to step into the house, then spun lightly back on her heel. "Oh. There's some bald guy, too."

She'd have to compliment Katrina later on her amazing powers of description. A bald guy? Really? Whatever. As long as he wasn't some genius mastermind, it wasn't like one more body was going to change things.

In the meantime:

"Ooo, I smell bread!"

Maxine stepped into the house.

Maxine’s laugh ignited a hidden smile from Syn as her statement to the house dwellers did have a touch of humor in it. She thought it was rather clever. Afterall, who could resist Girl Scout cookies in this day and age?

It was oh so sweet for Maxine to open the door for Syn. Then to ask if she wanted to do as she wished with whomever was inside? The dark goddess didn’t particularly like not being in charge, but she did enjoy when Maxine would indulge her. Perhaps it was respect for Syn’s own drive for power, or maybe just respecting the power Syn was able to wield over others. Whatever the reason it was now time for some fun.

Bone sword in hand Syn cautiously entered the house. No sense in running into a barrel full of death unlike a certain someone named Kaitlyn. Not seeing anyone in the living room, dining room or kitchen Syn put her persuasiveness to use. Flooding the house with her influence she called out. “Come out. Come out. Wherever you are! It’s not polite to hide from ladies.”

Wandering back into the kitchen while waiting for her guests to show themselves Syn began looking for whatever deliciousness they might have. First items found were three fresh loaves of homemade bread. The smell was pure heaven as her mouth began to water.

A man, a woman and a girl child soon came out of hiding. Syn could hear them moving about as some of the older boards in the house would creak and groan underfoot. “Come to the kitchen.” commanded the dark woman.

When they arrived as told Syn looked them over. The man looked to be in his early forties. The woman was probably only a few years younger, and the child looked to be somewhere between ten and twelve. The man had a rifle in hand but held it in a manner that wasn’t threatening. The girl held a metal spoon that was bent and half way twisted. Possible she’s a mutant with power over metal or maybe a telekinetic were the thoughts in the Amazon’s mind.

Before anything else could be done Maxine shouted out they had company coming and it sounded like her brothers were among the group. They always had such horrible timing.

Oh well, on with business. Tossing her bags on the table Syn commanded again. “Put as much of your food as you can fit into these bags and make sure that delectable smelling bread is in there too.” Looking to Maxine as the woman entered the house Syn grabbed an apple and took a bite. “I hear we have the wannabe Texas Rangers coming with backup? I think I’ll add a little extra fun to their visit.”

Once the family had stuffed the bags with the bread, some canned goods as well as some produce from the farm Syn grabbed the bags and turned to the family. “You will do everything you can to run off the men who are coming here even if you have to shoot them.” Spinning back to face Maxine with a cheesy smile the dark goddess made her way back to her paper dog with the full bags. “I’ll make sure everything gets home safely along with those who aren’t staying.” With that said Syn signaled for those who weren’t staying to fight to form up and head home. “Don’t the rest of you ladies be late for dinner.”

Times were rough.

...kinda.

There were many that lost everything. There were many that lost much. A few, though, thrived in the aftermath of the end of the world. Those people were usually sociopaths who loved the destruction and freedom that came with no longer having to worry about silly little things like laws and rules. The social structure was just how they wanted it; the survival of the fittest. The strongest. The most powerful. Or, if not that, then the smartest, the ones who planned and thought ahead. The ones who organized and adapted quickly, restored order and brought chaos down to a minimum. In these days there was always chaos, but it differed from how it was back in 'The World' (as she came to call it), as the chaos now was more widespread. Panic, rumors, information wasn't garnered through things like 'the internet' anymore. Sure, there was bullshit back then too, but now, that information could be used as a weapon, a tool.

And those people fought. They warred and suffered the loss every day of their lives. For years the struggles came and went, but they always, always came back to remind you that in this day and age you were never, never more then a few steps away from your own demise. And if you forgot, life had a funny way of reminding you.

And yet, Ashley Aran, better known to everyone else as Rhythm, thrived on something else.

An unexpected source of comfort, something she cherished just as deeply as anything she'd ever known. But as soon as Rhythm found it she kept it guarded and produced from the back of her throat a fearsome growl that most learned to heed. Those that didn't found themselves on the receiving end of an impromptu Muay Thai lesson, where the number one rule was to stay the frak away from the person who has mastered Muay Thai. She didn't know about the rest of the world, but she knew that, toe-to-toe, there were few that could stand up to her CQC skills, especially when her music was flowing.

Thank god for solar chargers. Rhythm would have died without her iPod. Literally.

But even that seemed so...so little compared to what she felt inside, every day, all day. Rhythm had opted on her own scouting mission, expanding the map of the now changed landscape of New York to the best of her ability. It was a thankless job, to be sure, and while she didn't have paper tigers to ride to make notes and observations about the wastelands outside of the bone fortress, Rhythm considered herself one of the fastest women in the Amazons thanks to the speed boost she got from her music. And it wasn't hard, not really, especially when it was simply sketching, notes, and more places to raid or look into should the time come. She was sure Queeny wouldn't mind, as Rhythm had spent days out on her mission to map as much as she could. Information was power, after all.

And it was on this last outing that she'd discovered a secluded building where the people inside were growing marijuana and, of all things, strawberries and apples (which seemed stranger to Rhythm than the marijuana). In the back of the building was a makeshift greenhouse, a feat if human engineering so improbable that Rhythm couldn't help but be impressed and wonder (slightly) if a mutant was involved in any way. She didn't ask questions, though, as these people were quick to defend their homes in any way possible. And while they fought tooth and nail, Rhythm did her best to simply incapacitate, glad that none of them had a projectile weapon of any sort, and when it became readily apparent that Rhythm wasn't there to kill them all, the onslaught of hilariously outmatched humans came to a stop.

From her attire they could tell she was an Amazon, though Rhy wasn't really surprised about this. The Amazons were well known everywhere in New York, as was their stance on 'never killing the grower', or 'not biting the hands that feed them'. The former con artist (because she'd never stop being a thief, considering how she and her sisters got most of their food) merely told them that no, none of them would die if they came up with an offering. In turn, she would make sure that their Queen would be notified of their location and protected should they be raided by anyone that wasn't them. Was it true? Rhythm didn't really know. All she did know was that these people agreed, and she was now walking through the fortress with a bag of apples, strawberries, and...ummm...'medicinal herbs' that could be used for medicinal uses. None of her fellow Amazons used drug for recreational purposes as far as she knew...though there was Allison...

Her stroll through the fortress was halted, however, by another being walking down the hallway. Rhythm knew she was coming, though, as she'd learned long ago that this person had a particular scent, even now. A tantalizing one to be sure, and even though these hard days didn't allow many people to take showers everyday (more of a burden for some then starving), Rhythm still insisted that the love of her life, her wife, still smelled the odd combination of chocolate and lemon drops.

The ambush was perfect, though, if she said so herself.

Perhaps the other woman was too busy recounting the 'shopping session' she and the rest of the Amazons had gone out on, but it was a simple matter of stepping out from a blind corner when she came close. A flurry of movement, a surprised yelp and a happy, content growl from Rhythm later the two were now in a most intimate embrace. Rhythm held the woman up against the wall, her victim's long, shapely legs wrapped around her waist. In her mouth Rhythm had a single strawberry, which she quickly shared as she gently kissed her soulmate until breath became a problem. She pulled back slightly, resting her forehead on the other woman's, slightly brushing their noses together affectionately.

“Syn, mah lovely...” Rhythm purred out. “Ah've got a hankerin' fer yer lovin' babe. Care ta sate that need?”

The dog had stopped to run in an 'a' pattern, it was smart to warn them of the troubles to come, it gave them an Idea that it might not be some easy to trounce enemy but a band of scantily clad heartless vixens. They made way forward and Zelek sped the group forward on the rolling wave of granules lifting and falling, lifting and falling. He smiled as he spied the red sheets of paper. He might not have realized it was a danger except for the dogs warning. It was the tell tale work of the queen B of the hive of buzzing women that called themselves amazons.

"Origami, incoming. Eruption, leave it to me; if we deal with one here we might need you to settle more there. You guys, go on ahead, the farm isn’t too far now, we can’t all get stopped here." he shouted it as they closed in on the sheets of red paper. What a terrible world when you had to watch out for paper on the ground, one might scoff at such a thing the first time you came across it, but paper cuts sucked. And in the current age of crap medicine, infection was a quiet killer as anything else in the world.

The disk collapsed onto the ground and let a spray of Granite and other natural stone fly out in tiny spine like tendrils in an unnatural wave towards the papers. He hopped to spike as many of the papers as he could, and keep them under control, so that his comrades could move forward, he’d catch up as soon as he had this dealt with. it of course wouldn't stop the hundreds of sheets still whirling around like a dust devil. But it would likely strike a solid first blow.

“Tell your maker, I’ll see her soon.” Zelek quipped at the papers, sometime ago he realized insulting her in front of the paper got more of their attention. “Has she thought over the offer to be my bed slave?” Yeah, that ought to get its attention.

Aura reached up into a nearby tree and grabbed an apple, taking a few bites of it, she kept her eyes looking around them as she ate in case of some type of danger found them. It was then she heard Maxine announce they would have a large group to dance with. Looking around she could see the dog's beginning to head back with the captured food though Aura could not see how much they actually got. Instead she Considered Maxine's words a moment.

"A Decent fight is hard to find these day's" Aura said but she had no idea if that was because she was an Amazon or if the world was just that sparse these days. Aura formed to Mace like ball several inches from her fingertips. It had become a favored weapon after the apocalypse, the spiked ball could do considerable damage to whatever she hit. If the crushed the Town's defender's here, their town would be a simple operation and the Amazons would own that to.

"With a boost i can handle one of the red's" she said knowing that normally she was not quite a match for a red but with Muse she could go toe to toe with them. She could fight one, maybe two but that left five more at least. "Anyone wnat to fight anyone else in particular?" she asked curiously as she waited for they opponents to show up to the fight. "Maybe we should move away from the farm a bit, the fight will likely leave a lot of damage to whatever is near" she said thinking they should avoid destroying one of their food sources in the fight,

Abyss nodded to the mineral mancer and hopped free of the disk, Abyss looked to Markus to make sure he would make it ok, the old man was typically capable but he still kept an eye on the old fella, just in case. After that a swift run toward the Green thumb farm was in order.

"Zelek catch up when you can!" He glanced toward the Sky to see that Gina was airborne and The hooves of Neptune were making thunder in his ears. it was amazing how much a nuclear holocaust could crack down on noise pollution, a Horse clacking along in new york three years ago would have never been heard at this distance, but now he was thunder incarnate. Which meant the sheriff was in tow as well. The Amazons had picked the wrong day, still he couldn't help feeling like telling the gardeners I told you so. people were likely dead because they refused protection.

He ran as fast as he could toward the farm and as he made the edge of the property proper he spotted a trio of farmers two had hoes and the third a shotgun. The Rifle was leveled at them He was just waiting for the group to get with in range, Abyss sneered.

The gun fired, the bullet sailed through the air and attempted to bury itself in his flesh, He could only think of this as his sister saying hello. it was good to be strong, but there was something about watching a bullet smack into you and watch something most others fear, fail terribly.

the piece of airborne metal managed to tear in opening into his arm but once it hit his muscle, it was like one of those old cartoons where the coyote hit the canyon floor and looked like a pancake, his arm twitched and he rolled his neck. What happens when you are convinced you must do anything you can to stop someone, but it is physically impossible to stop them.

There was a reason that he had his brothers hang out in the void, He liked to call this particular attack, alien abduction. he opened three voids behind the farmers. a large red arm came out of each and pulled the farmers in. It was as if the farmers had never existed.The voids disappeared and so did the farmers. The cries of relief from the three farmers. echoed in his head. His brothers conversed in the void to the farm hands and calmed them letting them know they had not died but were merely in the void. This conversation would make for a great back drop for the battle out here.

He hated having newbies in his head. It was better than killing theme, it kept them out of the way, unfortunately however it, only put the ordeal of dealing with them physically on hiatus. His sisters pheromones would be effecting them once he kicked them out as if he never put them in.


"Listen up Amazons, This raid ends Now! leave peacefully if you want to leave at all!" Abyss's baritone served him well in this situation His voice reverberated off of the farm house and through the fields. And braced for a whole pack of Irate women who had no intention of taking mercy off a man.

As the dog trotted in a circle, there was a moment in which Gina thought it was being silly—a false alarm? No. It ran in a circle then looped around, forming a cursive “A”. Ooooh, Amazons. She’d have to grab her shovel on the way out. Sure, Jorge had found a gun for her, given it to her for her position as deputee. Yes, Gina could fire it, and was a relatively good shot—but she didn’t like to shoot people, and didn’t like to the waste bullets. She tended to keep to what she knew. And what she knew, was the shovel.

The Amazons were sending scouts in—origami, which Zelek was handling, Eruption was also charging off to battle. Gina swooped past a familiar rooftop, grabbing her modified shovel—the edges had been sharpened, the wooden stick smoothed and cut-down to only being a yard (a meter) long. Through the handle, a hole had been drilled, a strap had been looped through. Obviously, Gina’s weapon of choice. And it served her well. Heck, it’d saved her life once, and was still doing well for her now. Gina picked the shovel up by its handle, twirling the thick, leather strap around her wrist.

Time to beat the snot out of some women with attitude problems… with a shovel. Oh, the joys of an eventful day.

Once the shovel was retrieved, Gina sprung up off of the roof again, flying with renewed vigor. Rather than follow the streets, she cut over them, going in the general direction that Tinaker had been leading them in, rather than keeping to the roads. She made faster time, airborne. No need to follow the guidelines. Soon, she was beyond the walls of the Town, and these quickly transitioned to farmland. Gina ducked low into the trees, her ears listening for the sound of an uproar. Ah—there—there was Abyss’s voice. Gina swooped down beside Abyss, wings folding fluidly, and held out her shovel as Abyss said his part.

She swung it around once, then caught it, holding it still.

“Good afternoon,” Gina greeted, “Here to crash the party.”

Her eyes flickered over the Amazons coolly, spying a familiar face or two. The rest, she'd met in confrontations like these. Dear God, she prayed that she wasn't taking the bonehead on today. Anyone but the bonehead.

[ooc: Tell me if anything's amiss via PM and I'll tweak it, I was at a bit of a loss.]