Fight of flee, Maxine would leave the decision up to the individual Amazons and let them choose their preference. There wasn't a lot of necessary debate in that for Isabel. While the whole end of the world thing occasionally forced her to stop and think before acting in certain situations, she still almost always preferred to stick around and fight things out. It broke up the monotony of everyday life roaming around the Fortress and scavenging for supplies. Plus, where food was involved there was very little room for backing down. It was a matter of survival, not just the enjoyment of raiding.

Quickly sealing the bag she'd been filling just before the Townies had showed up, she connected them in pairs by a thick strap of bone and draped them over the back of the nearest dog before it could take off with the rest of the pack. It was sort of a shame that the paper hounds wouldn't be assisting in the fight, as they were so very interesting to watch, but it was far more important to get the goods back to base. As long as they get some supplies back, then in Isabel's mind it didn't really matter if they won or lost this particular scuffle. They could always come back later, or find another farm outside of Town to invade.

As the Townies lined up, the decorative bones lining her upper body disappeared back into her skin and her six bone appendages stretched forward and planted solidly into the ground, lifting he body back up into the air as they did so. A lot of the time height was an advantage, and with her extra limbs she was already a good couple of extra feet taller than she normally was and could just as easily hoist herself higher by lengthening those appendages. The earth-bound muties would have a harder time getting a hold on her, and even if she was knocked down, she'd still have the extra limbs at her disposal to protect herself with once she hit the ground.

She couldn't help grinning and rolling her eyes at the several shouted demands that they back down and retreat. When had that ever worked? They'd collected their supplies fair and square. Honestly, would one farm really be needing all the food that they had growing? They wee simply spreading the wealth. They weren't even killing the growers or anything. Really, what more could the Town possibly expect from them? To starve? Yeah right.

She gave a rather put-out look at Abyss and conceded to retreat, but only as far back as the small group around Muse, where Kaitlyn seemed to be taking the lead. She'd have loved to see the opposing group blasted back by the small Amazon, some because they were the enemy and she wanted them out of the way and some, seven in particular, out of pure spite for switching sides on her.

For the moment she'd simply stand her ground, stretching her arms over her head and yawning in a bored fashion while she waited to see if Kaitlyn's threat would be given the chance to come about. If not, she'd just have to see which Townie was foolish enough to target her.

There was not a single hint of fear or remorse in her voice. Not a one. She did not think of him as a 'big strong man' and was definitely not interested in the path to reformation. She was taunting him, probing him, maybe even stalling for time waiting for some of the other higher up Amazons to arrive and bail her out.

Granted, he didn't know much about her, but the red hair and the paper creature had been dead giveaways. He had heard about it just once, that Kitra could do 'stuff with paper' and he had failed to perceive that as dangerous, definitely not believing paper could be used as an effective weapon in any way whatsoever, hence why he was feeling so cocky in his mismatched shoes.

She was now asking his name and the young man considered giving her a fake one, but using the Hoyle's could only give the old couple trouble further down the road and using his real one... what could it possibly do? It's not like her friends would stalk him up on Facebook or look his family up in a phone book and head to Virginia Beach to do them harm, nuked as they probably were. Besides, she was HIS catch. She wasn't going in shackles into town believing she had been caught by someone else.

"Haxton" he replied, confident, in full double-oh seven style. "Miles Haxton"

He raised his rifle, leaning it over his shoulder with one hand, the muzzle pointing upwards making him look like a guerrilla soldier, then he nodded towards the rather unfriendly paper construct she had brought with her.

"Your first step to reformation, lady, is for you to get rid of that thing, before the wind blows it over..."

Despite the downright menacing aspect of the teal paper dog and the myriad of layers it seemed to possess, it was very difficult to discern it's fighting capabilities at first glance, since the thing was made of, well... paper. Miles had two dogs, both flesh and bloo... scratch that, so the numbers were in his favor anyway and she had to know it. There was only one way this could end and the rest was just details.

"You can then start moving..." he continued "...and walking your finely formed posterior ahead of me, all the way back to town".

Teenagers. Where did they get that confidence? That feeling of immortality? The world had ended, and still, teenagers had made it their own. He had his rifle slung over his shoulder, like a kid who was old enough to remember bad action movies. His self-introduction had the ring of at least one good one.

Had she mentioned the rifle over his shoulder? For reference, that meant it was pointing at the sky. The sky. Where she wasn't.

Either he was packing one hell of a mutational punch, or he'd been living in a cave.

Maxine finished off the last of her strawberries, and wiped her hands on her dusty denim pants in quite the ladylike manner. So he wanted her to move her dog, did he? He wanted her to move her dog, and get up.

"If you insist," the redhead said, stretching her arms over her head languidly, until her shoulders popped. Mmm. On the ground, the teal dog perked its ears for a moment: its hollow mouth opened in a wide doggy smile, paper tongue lolling, before it collapsed. Poof, and just like that, the dog was no more—it was like a wind had scattered its papers all across the ground, the stairs, and the porch. They drifted back and forth, settling harmlessly wherever they'd fallen.

Maxine stood up slowly, trailing her hands down the arms of the rocker.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Haxton," she said. "I'm Ralls. Maxine Ralls."

Things happened very quickly, then: a hundred paper sheets lunged for his arm, the dog's maw forming over the hand that gripped the rifle. Oh: and she threw her chair at him. Still warm from her finely formed posterior, thank you very much.

“I love you too.” Allison leaned into Aura’s hand, tempted to close her eyes but not quite daring to with the impending fight. The caution didn’t seem to be entirely necessary; the group threatening them wasn’t doing anything, seemingly planning. Foolish, and a good sign for the Amazons; a group who fought together best wouldn’t need to take so much time to coordinate. Even if Allison was fairly sure that everyone facing them was too dangerous for her to face on her own, at least they didn’t seem to be very good at working together.

“Hm.” Allison ran her eye over the group again, more critically as Kaitlyn threatened them. She wasn’t quite sure whether she hoped they’d back down or not, but if they didn’t…. “No one at the moment. Certainly not until we make sure they don’t have bullets, anyway.”

It often felt like everyone other than her could charge into a storm of bullets with no problem. Queen Maxine and Lady Kitra could block with paper, Princess Isabel had her bones, Aura was protected from everything by her aura, Lady Kaitlyn was immortal… even Princess Rex was immune. Of course, Princess Rex was immune to everything….

On the other hand, she had survived just as long, through all the same risks, so clearly Allison had something working for her. That something being Aura, mainly. But not always. Her arms were lined with bullets, after all, short range as they may be, and she’d practiced with them more than enough. All she had to do was wait until someone got close enough. One hand drifted down to one of the talon blades, letting the side of her fingers drift over the handle. The tips were still covered in claws, limiting how much she could feel and how well she could grip anything, so she left both talons where they were at her sides. She’d at least wait to see what happened before drawing them.

It was time for some old fashion diplomacy, as the threat from the Amazon reached Markus's ears he fabricated a lie to go along with the logic he would present to them. "You do that and you loose this hot spot for your little raids! Not to mention you risk setting off the ordnance laid around the farm and risking blow back! Maybe you'd like to work out a deal perhaps?!" His shouts retorted to the Amazons, the lie of course being the ordnance, he made it vague as to not slip into any details that they might latch onto and find out the truth.

"If they do as I think they will, cover my back." Markus spoke gazing from his directed shout to his Red friend to his side. "If they try anything, remember the plan." Saying this Markus then turned his head back to the Amazon's direction "No hostility! Only reasoning if your up for it!" He hoped for the best.

Kaitlyn furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't take her eyes off the defenders, and she kept pretending that she was about to blow them to hell. Her mind was racing. 'Ordinance' probably meant 'bombs.' Some of the Amazons, including Kaitlyn herself, could probably survive any kind of 'ordinance' post-apocalyptia's finest could throw at them. But she didn't want her uncles to die, she didn't want Mars to die, and she didn't want any Amazons to die.

"Why the hell did you plant bombs here!?"

These were the first words that came to her mind. In retrospect, something more along the lines of 'we're listening' might have been better. Any kind of peace agreement between the townies and the Amazons would have been a dream come true, even if she didn't have Maxine's authority to speak for the whole group.

>> “Katrina…I see you.”

The white haired monster called after her.

The invisible illusionist froze for just a moment.

How?

That didn't matter. What mattered was getting away as fast as possible or getting to something she could use for defense.

Katrina chose to maintain her illusion of invisibility for now, because even if the vampire could somehow see a part of her with some other sense that she hadn't known about – some crazy blood-o-vision or something weird like that, it would still be more difficult for him to follow her if she was mostly invisible.

She took a moment to make sure she was also imperceptible to his more normal senses. The beating of her heart or the smell of her sweat weren't going to give her away. Nor would her shadow. If she left any footprints in the dust of the ground, they wouldn't be visible to normal vision until they were no longer in her range, which was quite a bit longer than the last time this particular villain had chased her.

It only took a moment to adjust her illusions and calculate her escape route. Then, she took off running. Down the alley, then to the left. She dodged behind a dumpster, then took another left. She took a roundabout way that she hoped would look panicked, if he truly could see her, but would ultimately lead her to somewhere she knew she could find what she needed most: wood.

The dog shaped stash of papers suddenly lost it's form and littered the entire place, blown over by the wind, clinging to the floor and the wall as the woman stood up. Despite her snark, she was following orders as she was told, like a good little...

Maxine... Ralls!?

The blood from Miles face flushed away, turning it pale white. The Queen had a VERY distinct reputation among the men in town, one that shook boots and soiled pants. Grown men pants! Remember the things she had complimented Miles of having when she first addressed him...?

Those shrunk.

The next thing he knew, he was getting knocked over as a sharp pain registered in his groin and abdomen, where the rocking chair had hit him, while his hand was suddenly attacked by a flurry of pages, swirling around at blinding speeds, causing him surprisingly painful small cuts that made him drop his rifle altogether. She had caught him off guard, his finger not even in the trigger, too cocky to think her a threat and too STUPID to realize he had the wrong Amazon.

Miles covered his face and neck with both arms now, his rifle clattering on the floor, his vision covered by flying, flapping paper, getting pushed by it even further and tripping him backwards. Tinaker was barking something fierce but made no attempt to attack Maxine since Miles hadn't given him any orders and she wasn't even attacking his master, the papers were.

His back now on the floor, he was almost in fetal position as he felt the edges of the pages shredding part of his clothes and slicing at parts of his arms. If he tried to stretch or stand up, he was sure the cuts would be more dire or hit him in vital organs. He could have sworn part of the papers were taking the shape of a dog again and Tinaker's barks were now echoed by a deeper, throaty, almost demonic voice.

The townie managed a glimpse towards the still open door and his eyes met the red, fiery gems of his larger, boxer dog, barking like a savage creature from hell but still unsure as to what was going on.

"ASTOR! ATTACK!" he yelled, and the unholy beast lunged forward, spittle clinging from his large canines as it opened it's undead mouth, ready to tear the paper monstrosity apart.

Rhythm was warm.

She loved being warm, that much was true. But in the years since the world had gone to hell, Rhythm found that the warmth provided by her darling wife was probably the greatest feeling in the world. Their...'interaction' in the hallway had left them both quite cold until but also sore. Syn, being a little whiner when no one was looking, had poked her lover in the side until Rhythm had finally relented and gone to their room for a blanket that most would have killed for (and probably have) in this day and age. Soft, heavy and warm, it covered them both completely. Rhythm had gone to point out that she could have just carried them to the bedroom and come back for clothes later, but Syn hand waved that aside and went on being the little spoon, much to Rhy's amusement. A small kiss, a little nibble for added naughtiness, and Rhythm found herself rubbing her nose into the back of her wife's neck, loving the skin to skin contact.

And the warmth. Always the warmth.

“Love ya, cher.”

Saying 'I love you' came easier then it had back in the day. It was mostly Rhythm's fault, her disbelief that someone like Syn could ever love her preventing her from really enjoying the times they spent together. But something had triggered Rhy's brain into finally being fully operational, and she'd clung to Syn's love ever since and refused to let go. It was only that love that had kept them sane in the aftermath of the end of the world, that love that had kept them strong. There really was little else that Rhy fought for, expect maybe her little sister, but family was family in the end. And as the sweet darkness of sleep overtook them both, Rhy clung to her wife just a little harder.

...just in case.

Mars leaned forward to Abyss. and grumbled in his ears, “if anyone hurts her, I am likely to kill them and not stop killing., hell their starting lineup is people you know we damn well don’t want to touch, if they hadn’t put that no boys allowed sign up you damn well know we would be standing alongside them laughing.

He knew where his brother was going with this and to be perfectly honest he was ready to call Kait’s bluff, but Markus was rolling ahead. Abyss opened a void behind himself. He stated a annoyed. “Fine.”

A farmer started rushing out the moment the void began to open still attempting to do their best as Syn had said, Mars plowed right into them and knocked them back in to the void. Another void popped up behind Kaitlin and Mars slid forth from it. “Kaitlyn, we need to talk.” It was phrase he had used once long ago, the only time he ever really felt like she needed reprimanding. He still thought that somehow the phrase was stern and parental; right now however he was saying for kicks, He was thrilled to get the chance to hug her. His arms slide around her and he pulled her into the void. As a father you hated to see your child stand on a battlefield, much less the wrong side of one. He hated to see her have to adapt and flourish in a crummy world like this. But she was doing well for herself and he couldn’t argue with the results she got. But then he was simultaneously proud of how well she flourished.

Abyss nodded to Jorge, Aedus and then to his brothers and Gina. Markus was looking to talk, but they needed to move if they wanted to get ahead of whoever would think to tag Muse next. He would have sent Jupiter to tag her, but quite frankly he was afraid he might break the world if he had that sort of power.
Six brothers stampeded forward. Roughly following the football play that Markus had drawn for them, five flanking Abyss charging head on. They let out bestial roars, they were standing there cocky, but he was going to see about ensuring they took his peace offerings a bit more seriously next time.

(OOC: With permission from Muse…)

Jorge eyed the females lined up ahead. He really did not want this to descend into a fight that could cost lives but there was obviously no choice in the matter anymore. The Amazons had made their plan and it was further enforced by the fact that their youngest member was threatening to blow them all up to kingdom come…again. She was poised, ready to grab the woman’s bare skin, a move that would greatly amplify her powers. It was something that Jorge definitely did not want to happen.

He narrowed his eyes as he watched them. He was not liking their options at all. The women seemed damn intent to take whatever they wanted, not caring who they harmed along the way. Jorge didn’t care for bullies and he never would.

It was as he was watching him, knowing mostly what they were capable of, that he tried to think of something to do. Markus was the tactical genius here but Jorge had a feeling that his plan was not going to be one hundred percent effective. After all, if they couldn’t get close enough to even pull it off, then what was the point?

The girl, she was too close to Sveta. Not only that, but all the women were! If each of them were able to get their powers boosted then they were all going to be a force to be reckoned with. No, there had to be a plan.

>> “Fine.”

He caught the sound of Abyss whispering to one of his brothers. He glanced over and caught sight of the void opening. Then, just as quickly, the void opened against behind youngest Amazon. And, in a snap of their fingers, the girl was gone—disappearing into thin air. And, just like that, their deadliest foe was removed.

Jorge then settled his eyes onto Sveta. If he had to, he was going to remove the next deadliest Amazon on his own.

The Abyssi were on the move and suddenly Jorge joined them. He charged, following Markus’ plan, but he didn’t run all the way on his own. Before he was even halfway to the Amazons, Jorge suddenly collapsed into the very element that was so sought after in this world—water. A huge, sloshing wave of water flew across at the ground, speeding like an unnatural wave.

The water humanoid flew, unable to be pierced by bone, slashed by pink weapons, or encased by paper. Instead, Jorge dashed through them all and aimed at the single and most dangerous member of the group…Sveta. The wave of water lurched upward in a dangerous looking wave before suddenly lunging forward and crashed against the blonde Russian. The paper dog began soaked and useless as Jorge covered Sveta in water and carried her away, washing her down the street and around a far corner of one of the buildings.

He would carry both himself and her as far away from the battle as possible. That should even the battleground a bit between those Amazons and his Town defenders. Plus, it would give him a chance to catch up with an old friend…

Gina nodded and took her orders as Markus, ceasing in the casual swinging of her shovel to grasp it tightly and look forward, gritting her teeth. Already, she was calculating her move—who she wanted to go-after, and who she wanted to avoid. Obviously, having a mutation that only impacted your physique and nothing more proved a definite downfall against people who could, oh, utilize bones as weapons or slide you with their aura. Everyone else would be pretty fair game, though, except explode-y girl. She was probably bluffing, but Gina wasn’t too keen on being the guinea pig to test that theory.

Her expression was deadpan as Markus attempted to barter, emulating bonehead’s own expression of boredom, though Gina did not, however, go so far as to feign a yawn. She just looked about dryly, waiting for the command to charge. There were murmurs amongst the red behemoths, who loomed behind Gina like boulders of muscle. Mars murmured something towards Abyss, before ducking into the void. He slipped out just far enough to latch onto the boisterous redhead and pull her into the void.

Well. That was quite helpful of him. Abyss gave them a nod.

“Thanks,” Gina murmured. That was the last thing that she murmured before the brothers began their charge.

“Okay, Mordecai,” Gina said, addressing the shovel as she kicked off of the ground and followed by a three-man cluster of the Abyssi, “Let’s hit some people, yeah?”

Perhaps her mutation was a convenience—mostly, it was air-support and back up for Gina. She couldn’t throw people about like ragdolls, turn into a being made of an element. But, she could clock a person with her shovel, well enough to knock them unconscious. She’d have to settle for that.

Jorge tackled the blonde, the one who could allegedly amplify powers, and swept her away. Two down, a few more to go.

Gina veered left and swept in low, shovel grasped tightly and at-the-ready in her hands. She went for the closest Amazon, drawing the tool back and then swinging it out rapidly once within arms' reach. Should the blow connect, it was aimed for their skull-- confrontations like this left no room for indirectness.


ooc: Left the attack as vague as possible, so anyone who wants a shovel swung at them, and possibly three Abyssi(?) [if they’re still following Gina], by all means, react to the attempted blow. <3 Sorry for the cruddy post. *shakefist* I shall improve.

Kaitlyn was gone - the Townies were not as weak as they were supposed to be. Without the bomb threat, they had to rely on skill and brute force, they were not getting away with threats alone. Or not getting away at all.

When Jorge started moving towards her, Sveta pulled the guns on him. It felt wrong, shooting at someone who taught you how to shoot and survive, but the lines were drawn, and her loyalties were with the Amazons. Still, the sentiment made her hesitate just a few seconds, just enough for the sheriff to go from human to water.

Sveta yelled, but it was too late; the water cut through the Amazon lines undarmed by weapons and unhindered by obstacles, and it came down on her full force, washing her away. Breath caught in her lungs Sveta struggled to get out, but the water was stronger.

Was the sheriff desperate enough to drown her?...

((Continued in separate thread))

So the Knight took the Queen and the Bishop took the Rook. Svetlana being the Queen and Kaitlyn the Rook due to Markus's own way of ranking the threats based on the knowledge already gathered. He knew little of the Amazons, but gained basic knowledge of them, their names, and a small understanding of their capabilities. Now following up Abyss's improvised blitzkrieg to his intended plan, Markus readied himself for any possible oncoming scenario once more. Now it was clear there was no hope for diplomacy and he would have to hold out until victory was assured. However, Markus still wouldn't deny any of the remaining opposition the chance for peace.

"Leave now and we will not pursue you or the food!" Markus shouted as he followed the assault that now raged on. As Gina led some of the Abyssi and the others following some what of his attack pattern Markus was ready for anything and drew his Rhino Revolver.

Kitra watched the exchanges between both sides without batting an eyelid. Nor did it surprise her when one of the Abyssi appeared behind Kaitlyn and disappeared with her into a void. Jorge's little water trick carried Muse off. Kitra had sighed then. As she went to speak, that idea was thrown out the window as Abyss and five of his brothers roared with bestial vigor and charged forward. Now that had made her shiver.

Kitra smiled a hard smile and pulled paper from her bag. As she pulled it out it formed her trusty paper whip. She cracked her whip towards the other side of the street. Of course one couldn't really call it a street anymore, more of a rustic road perhaps. Her target was a rusted post of some kind, it looked to have been an old stop sign. Her whip curled around it and would straighten out so it would trip someone or multiple someones when they got close enough. It was flexible like rubber so it wouldn't hurt but it should cause someone to trip. It was about knee height and thick.

Kitra then used some of her spare paper to fold into origami birds that went and pestered Gina. Kitra hoped it would be enough to distract her and that lethal shovel of hers. Kitra's eyes flicked over at Marcus then back at the incoming Abyssi. "Normally I would say sure and let's play nice. But, I don't think you want to play nice at this point." Kitra had kept her tone even.

She wished that they all could play nice, however, Queen Maxine didn't want boys in the fortress unless the amazons could play with them. However Kitra didn't want to fight, well on a death type fight. She wanted to trip the Abyssi and lead them off to an area not seen by the others so she could chat with them. Kitra missed them all terribly and she also knew that tripping them wouldn't hurt them.