(ooc: *puts it as new post so people know she's posted it*
Before anyone accuses me of the heinous crime of using a person's character without their permisson, this is another of those collaborations between Rach and myself. So there. :P)
Damn… encircled… trapped…! Malice felt his heart sink. There was over two hundred soldiers here, all armed… there was no was he could beat all this lot… He must have PLANNED this, damn his hide…
One of the soldiers was approaching, warily, holding an unpleasant-looking metal device in his long hands. It looked a sturdily built contraption; one large metal ring and two smaller ones – shackles, Malice had already worked out. They wanted to put this on him. To control him. Like… like some common animal…!
Malice gave voice to an ugly ripping snarl and bared all those ivory teeth at him.
“Now now, no snarling…” a voice laughed amusedly from somewhere behind. “You jus’ be a good li’l doggie and let us put yer collar on…”
“You aren’t putting that anywhere even near me…” Malice grated, lowering his head and arching his spine, all his dark quills standing out. “And if you think I’m going to just stand there and let you do it…”
The approaching soldier shot a grin back over his shoulder. “Hear that, lads…? He thinks he’s in a position to go making demands…”
A ripple of laugher spread through the shifting circle, bristling with heavy weaponry.
“Now,” another of the sligs stepped forward; he looked to be one of the higher ranking ones, judging by the dark shoulder-guards and chest-plate he wore. “There’s two ways we can do this, y’big red freak… The right way, or the wrong way. The right way entails yer being a good li’l psycho and lettin’ us put that on you. The wrong way entails yer getting shot with one of these nice little sleepydarts…” he waved the gun. “…and we’ll put it on you while yer in the land of nod. Either way it’s goin’ on, so y’might as well make it easier on yourself.”
“Then you’ll just have to shoot me,” Malice snarled, hatefully.
The soldier shrugged. “Your choice. But then, while yer in the land of nod yer won’ know what we’re doing to yer,” a laugh. “Do you really want t’have to wake up to find out…?”
Malice growled softly. “You dare even think of-”
“We’ll dare do what we like, mister…” The soldier cut in, steadily holding the red drakkic’s furious gaze. “Besides, how would you stop us…?” Another derisive laugh. “I think a bit of public humiliation would work wonders, anyway.”
Aura was tired; she’d been moving as fast as she could, but still arrived only just in time to see Spider go down under a clean, precise swipe from Malice’s broad tail through a break in the milling crowd. A lot of the townsfolk were here, watching, and a good proportion of the militia, and the crowd had formed a ring around the two hybrids, and she’ short, couldn’t see. Fuming she shoved her way through the crowd.
…By the time she got to the centre, though, the soldiers were already beginning to close the circle up on him. She just stared, for a while, unsure what she should do… the air still smelt of that weird almost-electricity she’d heard rumours Spider could use, though, and that put an idea in her nimble little brain. Straightening her shoulders she marched out to the centre of the circle, boldly.
“Hey!” there was an indignant sound from one of the soldiers. “Y’can’t go out there-”
“Leave it,” one of his colleagues said, scornfully. “Worst that can happen is that he kills the little scrap of a thing.”
Malice gave her a baffled look, but she just looked back at him, squarely, about-faced when she’d got up to him and sank to her elbows to watch the soldiers, silently already preparing her next move, wondering if she’d get the time she needed to do it.
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