We Don't Talk Anymore (Starring: Malus, Skyler, Drifter, Withdrawl, and Humanity)

"Yes, yes i am. Thank you for noticing. But, you know what they say, alcohol often reveals the truth. The truth i see now is that you two look great standing next to each other." Drifter said, making a little window with his hands, as if taking a picture.

Ash didn't seem too charmed, but he did just let Pat buy him a drink. To top it off, after Matt showed up the two went off with each other. Success! YAY! Drifter probably wasn't the reason for that, but try telling him that.

In his drunken haze, Luke made out the fact Matt wanted to talk to him. He really hoped it wasn't serious, because to be honest he wasn't equipped to deal with something like that. Regardless, he was pulled off to the side for some private conversation.

Skyler dropped by briefly, apparently also searching for him. She and Matt had a little exchange, and Drifter could only laugh. He was being pulled in three different directions.

"Girls girls girls, one at a time...." Drifter muttered as he was continuously pulled away from the loud clubbing. Eventually they would get to a private area, wherever that was, and so the apparently important stuff would begin.

"Wassup Matt? You look stressed." Drifter said, having a seat in their secluded little area. He was equal parts concerned and dismissive, really just wanting his friend to have some fun.

Having a smashed Luke around would have normally been a terrible thing, but he did make the whole flirting thing fine. Luckily getting him a  drink did give a name, Pat smiling in an almost sly fashion. ”Well, nice to meet his old pain in the ass.” He said with what sounded like good humor,  turning to see Matt walk into their little conversation with the intention of talking to two of them. Ash however deflected that by saying he wanted a few drinks with him, Pat turning to the male with an intrigued quirk of the brow. Using the nickname Matty was an interesting turn, but he said nothing about it.

The two would walk away, his eyes following Matt for a few seconds before turning back to Ash. ”I...guess I could go for a few drinks.” He said, with a sigh realizing that maybe he needed it. Maybe this was what he needed, or even wanted now of all times. He ordered himself one of those hard sodas, nothing really heavy in the way of alcohol but it did the job. ”Not like I have anywhere else to be tonight.” He then admitted with a shrug, drinking the bright orange carbonated soda drink.

”Heh, was going to say something like “Come here often?” but then my lack of social awareness would be showing.” He said with a chuckle, trying to start some small talk, or maybe just to make things go where he wanted.

"Heh. Too late there bud. So-uh how long have you and Matty uh... known each other?" He asked, he asked it very matter of factly though he had no rcollection of ever having heard of Pat or Luke. Of course they tended to keep themselves out of each other's lives too much anymore. It was a bit strange to suddenly have old friends appear from the middle of nowhere. It was horrific to recall how easily people, friends and rivals were forgotten. Ash just sighed as he turned to look at Pat with a smile, taking a sip from his drink.

Matthew sighed as he sat across the table from Drifter before running his hand in his hair and letting out a grumbling sigh. He tried to think about the confession he was about to make, and how it was going to change everything. Forever. Luke would be pissed, if he wasn't too drunk. That was just his best guess of his friend though. If he wasn't drunk he'd likely hit him, spazz out on him and call him every name in the book. All of this he was prepared for as he took in a deep breath.

"Luke. Have you...ever had something you kept from everyone? Even the people closest to you? ESPECIALLY the people closest to you?" He asked, as he sighed and pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes in irritation before he seemed to have a slight breath of anxiety. His eyes began to get red as his heart went a thousand beats a minute. Seriously, you'dve thought he was going to profess his undying love for Drifter, not tell him that they were the same. "I know that telling you, telling Pat...you'll hate me. You will. You'll be pissed, you'll be angry...hurt maybe. I dunno. But I...I kinda feel like I'm at the end of my rope...ya know? Like I'm...I'm not gonna....be around much longer. I-I just. I don't want there to be this dark, horriblle thing I'm keeping from you guys." Now he was crying, not sobbing but he had tears in his eyes, his anxiety through the roof.

Drifter would have his chance to react, but Skylar was in for a surprise as she and her little "daughter" managed to take to the security system of the club, viewing the back door to the entire facility. There was a sudden dimming effect on the camera, as if the power supply had been compromised, but then when the image returned, the two security guards were missing, nothing left in place. Skyler could follow this effect as it hit the camera's systematically, people and club personelle vanishing into thin air.

When Matt opened up, it was always weird. He wasn't one to confide in people about his problems, at least not in the same way Luke had countless nights. It was an interesting script flip, but not one that was too weird to handle. Even while drunk, Drifter was a deep thinker. His self engineered philosophies still came through. Luke paused, thinking over the words his friend had said. He shook his head left and right.

"Matt........... You've been my friend for a long time...... No, you've been my brother. We keep the things you're talking about away from the one's closest to us to keep them safe. Even if that is irrational, it's human nature. We don't want the one's we love to see the darkest parts of ourselves. So my answer is yes, i have kept plenty to myself, but no, i can tell you, i won't hate you." Luke said. His eyes were glazed, but his words were true.

"You know me.... I might get angry, and i might pick apart what you did to call you out for it, but nothing will break what you, me, and Pat have......" Drifter said. He then rubbed his face, sighing as he let his words sink in. There was a commotion in the crowd, but his conversation with Matt wasn't done yet.

"I'm a fucking murderer, Matthew. I'm a liar, and I'm a manipulative bastard......... If you can still stick with me after all we've been through, then whatever you have to say......... Say it. I already forgive you." Luke said. It was at this point that it was evident something was going on, and this conversation would need to conclude quickly. Hopefully Matt decided to say what he intended.

Well, at least he had that part of him out in the open despite how terrible that would make things go. For a moment he even forgot why they were here, though he was sure that was being dealt with with Luke and then eventually with him. For now maybe he could just enjoy whatever was going on here. What that was could be considered a whole other beat entirely really. ”How long have we known each other?” He scratched his chin ponderously, looking up and then back to Ash. ”I’d say between 2 or 3 years. We’re pretty tight as far as friends go I guess.” He shrugged, unsure how he would get that across. ”You two must be pretty close if you can call him Matty without any kind of flipping out.” Pat suggested with a smirk, tone more curious than anything else.

Well, from his experience that would happen when he said anything like Matty. That was when he noticed something, it looked like a commotion within someone on the dance floor. ”Wonder what that’s all about?” He muttered to himself, trying to peer around someone but getting close to giving up on that when he noted it was Malus or Marcus, he forgot now. Great, here comes the regret. He sighed, downing the drink he had in one go.

He wasn’t married to the idea of getting up now. Plus there was a doctor, which meant everything was fine now or maybe would be. The drink was starting to get to him now. There was nothing he could do to help anyway, so he would let Luke's girlfriend deal with it.

Luke had a moment to express the heartfelt mushy stuff that was emotions and acceptance. Truly it would have made Matt cry, if he didn't know that Luke was plastered out of his mind. He sighed when he thought things over. If there was ever a time to tell Luke, it was now. But to tell him when he was drunk was a bit of a cheap shot, taking the easy way out. He couldn't begin to fathom the level of frustration and hormonal bullshit he'd be getting into once Luke sobered up and Pat was made aware. He wasn't sure if he could handle the passive aggressive and dickish combo. He'd need a cyanide pill on back-up.

"Luke...The only reason I didn't want you guys getting into the whole...vigilante thing was because I was trying to keep you safe. Because I...I know first hand how hard ti can be. My mom, my dad and my brothers are all metahuman vigilantes and I... I haven't been honest." Matthew said as he tried to collect himself, taking a deep breath in and exhaling. "Luke, I'm not the same Matt you knew. Not by a long shot. The truth is Luke, I'm Huma-n." Matt's voice trailed off as he looked over, noting that Malus had fallen down. His friend, Ashtyn had been sitting there with Pat and stood up, looking shocked and almost reading Malus for whatever reason. A faint white fog began to lift, originally it was believed to be simply part of the club's theatrics...alas it was not so.

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"Yeah, we're pretty close. Same school, same sports. Same recreations. Been a good guy for a long time.... I uh.... I actually used to be his bully." He laughed a little, slightly nervous as he took a sip before shrugging. "I bullied him and he was the best friend I couldda asked for." He said as he coughed a little, he couldn't get over the faint smell of the smoke on his overshirt. Suddenly there was a gasp and the crowd all reacted, Ash shooting up to his feet and walking over to see Skylar proclaiming the fact she was a doctor.

The next thing he knew, Ash had heard a shot ringing out as glass fell from the ceiling. Screaming could be heard as a white fog permeated throughout the dance floor. Arrows flew out and people dropped dead, the masses began to run out and immediately the attention of the vigilante's were caught. The crowd began to trample one and other to escape as bodies began to litter the area. Soon enough dozens upon dozens of ninja like warriors stood in the colorful lights, surrounding the nearly empty building, letting people exit, except for the vigilantes and their dates.

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Matthew saw the smoke and then watched Malus fall, he became alert but then just barely noticed something out of the corner of his eye, behind the stage, off to their side. A mask that sent terror into his heart. Matthew knew immediately what was going on and he dove onto Luke, using his body as a shield as three blow darts sunk into his shoulder, where the nape of Luke's neck had been. People were yelling, screaming and scampering to escape. Ash must have been lost to the chaos, as he had seemed to vanish as the room emptied.

"This lifestyle was bound to catch up with you sometime..." A voice mused from behind a black, terrifying mask as a man emerged from behind the stage, the couple dozen samurai ninja warrior looking men kneeling, save for the two that stood at his heels. The first was a individual in black armor with a blood read hood and vestment on. The samurai sword in his hand seemed to shimmer black and the small metallic fragments on his leggings seemed to consume light. The second warrior was a thing of nightmares. It had red and maroon colors meshed into black, the man was more monster than anything else with gnashing fangs across the face plate and formfitting armor with ribbing and indentations, flame like plumes of spikes protruding from the forearms and shins, an frayed and bloodied scarf-looking accessory dangling behind him. The individual speaking to them, however appeared to be little more than simply a living shadow and a floating mask within.

Matt seemed to be wearing his heart on his sleeve tonight. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but Luke wasn't exactly used to it. Yes, him and Matthew had deep conversations all the time, but anything that more then skimmed his friend's own issues didn't make but a brief appearance.

Matt seemed to be building to something, some punchline, some confession. Even while drunk, Lukas was hanging on every word. As the tension built, he wanted to know more and more what his closed off brother was going to say. Of course, because this is fiction, Drifter wouldn't get a chance to hear it. Fucking ninjas.

Unexpectedly thrown from his chair by Matt, who had seemingly taken a shot intended for him, Luke immediately went into freak the fuck out mode. With blurry senses and fear for Matt, Drifter did the old vigilante once over. Exits, attackers, potential weapons, assets, chances of making it out of here alive. None of it looked good, especially when Luke saw what happened to Skyler.

He couldn't protect everyone. Hell, he couldn't even protect himself. This was reckless. He let his guard down for just a moment, and now all hell was breaking loose.

They were fucked.

Drifter stood, a glare on his face as he stared the shadow man down. After the leader of these ninja creeps spoke, and his words had time to hit the air, a faint smile finally broke Luke's serious expression. Moments later, it turned into a laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Was all that could be heard from the young man for a solid twenty seconds. He was holding his stomach in apparant laughing pains. He was in a fit.

Finally, the vigilante wiped his face off with a brush of his hand, moving the hair from his eyes. The smirk still played on his face. He was screwed and he knew it, everyone here was. To run was to abandon his friends, and to fight was death. It was so anticlimactic, so, so hilarious.

"This lifestyle? You mean the partying? Or, do you mean the vigilante lifestyle? Either way, um, you aren't making much sense. If you mean the vigilante lifestyle, well, if i had stuck to that and decided to not come have some fun here tonight, this wouldn't be happening, so it isn't that lifestyle's fault. If you mean the boozing, well, yeah, but i already knew my liver was fucked. You don't gotta remind me." Drifter said in classic Dirfter fashion. It was a bit of a hobby of his to deconstruct a person's words, even if it got him nowhere. Drifter drew his 9mm pistol, not pointing it at anything just yet, and moved over to Matt's body.

"Sorry Matt. This seems like the end of the road. Not gonna leave you here, not gonna leave Pat here, and not gonna leave Sky here. It was a good run." Drifter said. Immediately after saying that, Luke turned the gun on himself. The smirk was still on his face.

"Now, I don't know what you want, and i frankly don't care, but I'm sure it has something to do with punishing someone for one thing or another. Revenge, justice, whatever.  The end result here is i get killed in a way that isn't by my choice, or i get tortured, OR, something equally shitty happens. Can't run, can't fight, can't hide.... So ya know what? Fuck it." Drifter said. His finger slowly pressed onto the cold metal of the trigger, the mechanisms audibly clicking as the action was performed. It would only take a moment from now, and Drifter would have a bullet through his chest.

Used to be his bully, well that was an odd thing to admit to being. Pat arched a brow at the male, but didn’t seem to say anything in regards to that immediately. ”Well, that’s...something.” He mentioned, sipping at his drink with a tone that suggested he did find that interesting. He was going to say something, though a gasp rang through the room before he could say anything else. Mind snapping to some level of action, just as tendrils of smoke  began to reach through the room. Arrows whizzed through the air and a few people dropped with hideous thuds. ”You’ve...got to be kidding me.” Pat groaned under his breath, ducking under the table he had been sitting at.

He really wished he had a weapon right now. It would have felt nice to have one, though not like he could do much for it right now. Keeping down, he noted that people were running out, faint shadows within the smoke. What he was hoping to do was find was Matt and Luke, maybe  go from there. Someone had called for him, though his mind was all took keen on looking for prior mentioned two people.

Crawling through a club being attacked by ninjas, this was going to suck.

Matt groaned as he reached up and hit Lukas' hand, throwing the barrel off course a bit as the shot clipped his shoulder instead. Matthew coughed a bit as he rolled over and reached back, starting to reach for the darts in his back. After a struggle he managed to remove them before groaning about feeling a little off. He brushed himself up before looking to Luke in shock.

"They're not here for you..." Matthew said as he tried to stand up straight, fixing his glasses.

"Oh too true, Matthew." The voice said, a chuckle rumbled a little as the many warriors remained stationary. Matthew closed his eyes and exhaled a slight sigh at the mention of that name. "We have come for the Son of The Minister, Brother of Archangel and Rapture. The gift of God himself." a few of the ninjas began to move closer. Matthew put his hands up and walked forward.

"As for the rest of you....your interference will not be tolerated. Therefore, we have prepared a little game to ensure your cooperation." The figure said as he looked to all the vigilantes and their perspective plus-one's. His eyes fell to Karma once again before they narrowed. If one could see beneath the hood and the fetid mask they could only imagine a wide Cheshire smile glimmering behind. "I do so love a game of cat and mouse, don't I, Doctor?"

"I don't, so cut to the chase." Matthew said as he looked to Pat, then Luke and the Malus and Skyler. He didn't know what to do, even as Humanity. He hadn't thought that the Bloodmoon would have made such a brazen statement as attacking him here, like this.

"Oh so impatient...raised in such a family, I would have expected more of you. Though, what can one expect of a murderer?" The man said as he pulled a curved blade from his back. "Everyone in this room is to run. Run until daylight while we give chase. Run, for if you do not, then it is not you who shall receive my blade, but you whom will be scarred."

Oh. Ya know, fuck this.

"You're..... a dumbass, Matt....." Luke said, grunting as he held the bullet wound in his arm. It seized with pain, like a constant taser under the skin. He gently opened his jacket, trying not to hurt himself. When Drifter finally got it open, some of his Kevlar and metal plated armor was revealed. Unfortunately it wasn't his normal armor, just a vest, because his normal stuff would have stopped the bullet that ripped through his fucking shoulder. Apparently Luke had played his part so well, not even Matt saw through it.

"Who the fuck shoots themselves in the chest? If i really wanted to kill myself because of this dumb shit, i would have put a bullet in my head. No, when confronted with odds that are impossible, you play dead.... You don't actually die..... Not every night is the fucking train. Thanks for getting me shot," Drifter tried to pull himself up to a sitting position against the wall, having been knocked to the ground by the shot. Thankfully, he was successful, but that didn't make the pain any less terrible.

"Now I'm pissed the fuck off. You all are dicks, invading my space on my day off........... And my God, update your wardrobe. Historically inaccurate Japan called, and they want their style back," Luke drunkenly quipped. It was at that point that Skyler got to him, putting pressure on his wound. It was nice to have a Doctor as a girlfriend, especially with how much trouble that seemed to follow her. Luke sluggishly pointed to a bottle of vodka on the table next to him, requesting Skyler to get it. If she didn't, he would exert himself a bit and grab it himself. He took a swig just as the leader of this group told them to run.

"Yeah, ok, fine, whatever. It will be more of a sluggish walk at first... Sorry, kinda shot here, and a little bit drunk. Gonna need to give me a little head start in this game of tag," Luke said. He was quite aware how lightly he was taking this, and that it was actually serious, but his mind was a little too numb to think that way right now.  

He would sit up further, put his hand on Skyler's face, then give her a kiss.

"Let's go.... We don't have any other choice." Drifter tried to use Skyler as a prop, getting to his feet. He needed to get his wound tied up if he was to move quickly, but he would worry about that once outside. These guys didn't seem like the patient type.

"Coming, guys?"

It was times like this that Pat was grateful they were in a bar, so full of alcohol and various other nice things. Clear bottles of vodka and what he assumed were scotch were carefully cradled within his hands, as many as he could carry. A few even pressed into the crooks of his arms as he kept crouched behind what he felt like was a bar, rummaging through what wouldn’t be needed at the moment. He was sure Ash and Malus wouldn’t mind his little disappearing act. Why didn’t he bring his messanger bag? Not that anyone would have expected to be suddenly assaulted by shinobi rejects who seemed to have a hate on for Matt. Apparently they also had some cat and mouse game that involved chasing them until morning.

”Okay, this is officially the worst night out ever.” He muttered, barely making note of Malus with narrowed eyes, as the male seemed to be leading him somewhere with a hand around his waist. He didn’t argue with the procession, still trying to keep the potential molotov fuel in hand. Not that he didn’t expect Luke to have some kind of incendiary things, but having things now was more important than maybes. If they were fighting ninjas, he didn’t want to be at their mercy an entire night when Pat was more than aware of his lacking stamina. Ten minutes and he knew he would have his pretty little throat slashed open. No ifs ands or buts about that little fact.

”Gotta agree on him with this one. Fighting  weird ass ninjas is not in my job description.” Not without some kind of plan anyhow, because that would have been a pain in the ass and he didn’t need people somehow being set on fire. Not good for the whole no killing gig goin on. That was when he noticed that Luke had been shot, eyes going wide in a deer in the headlights fashion. ”And now this. Let’s...just get the fuck out of here.” He hissed through clenched teeth, quickly pushing through the doors outside with the cold night air serving as a means to propel him forward. ”Gotta admit, I have no idea what i’m doing.” He finally said, trying to conjure a plan from the aether.

Matthew was concerned. Not for himself, for those he called his friends. Already they had been harmed, damaged and sent on an impossible mission because of him. At least if this had been Bolt or Cypher they would have had a damn chance on evading these guys. He looked to the leader, Fear and his eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but realize what form of grand design he had in store. This was not going to be an enjoyable evening.

"You...I like." The masked leader said with a hearty and yet somehow sinister laugh as he pointed to Luke. "Fifteen minutes..." He said as he snapped his fingers. The Bloodmoon agents flourished their weapons, then sheathed them as they utilized a very familiar wrist-like attachment to grapple themselves to the ceiling, disappearing in the darkness above. The slight sound of feet on metal beams faintly echoing. There was nothing he could do, not without revealing himself. Fear would wait until the others had left.

"For the first time since I've met you that night in the alley...I smell fear." He said, though he did not sound so sinister. His hands came up and he pulled off his mask, ripping down his hood and peeling away the veil of secrecy.

"You don't have to do this. Walk away. You know what you're doing is wrong..." Matthew said, attempting to remind his old mentor exactly of the morality they once shared. Before despair overtook one, and hopelessness the other. There wasn't even a cinematic pause, it was immediately responded to with a fist burying itself into Matthew's ribs, a sickening crack heard as he dropped to his knees.

"You must answer for your crimes, Akuyaku. Tsukiyomi demands it." He said with a sigh. "Now we will see if your love for your NEW brothers is stronger than your love of yourself. We have brought in an old friend. The Inquisitor, you remember him I'm sure." He said as he motioned with his arm, a very strangely dressed member arrived, wearing a gold trimmed cloak with an empty void of darkness over his face, the rest of his front torso was exposed to reveal his several ornate tattoos on pale, ashen skin. Black traditional leggings accompanied by sandals clicked on the ground as the man stood, his hands together with hsi fingers laced within one and other.

"Your friends run until daylight. If they are caught, we will kill you. However... if we fail to extract the information we need from you... we will kill the people that mean most to your beloved friends...and yourself." He said as he looked to the Inquisitor, nodding and stepping aside. "If they catch your friends too quickly...then you cannot tell us what we need, thereby we will execute our promise and remove Patrick's mother, and Lukas' brother from this world to accompany you to the gates of Hell. However...if you tell us, then the only one who dies here tonight...is you. Food for thought. Perhaps you can finally save someone selflessly." Fear said as he placed the mask back upon his face and walking off. Leaving Humanity with The Inquisitor.

"They deserve to know...By the writ of Honor, I demand you proclaim your advantage over the lessers you have challenged." Matthew began, but he was quickly kicked with a wooden sandal, sent flying onto his back as the darkness coiled arond his wwrists, transforming into solid chains of black liquid. The Inquisitor grumbled as he reached down and picked the man up by his throat.
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The group had departed and made their way out into the town. They had only so much time before they were pursued. If fifteen minutes wasn't enough time then there was going to be a problem. No doubt someone would bring up the idea of driving away to out-maneuver the ninja-kin clan through sheer speed. Of course there could even be the potential of a trap or some form of last-ditch effort to make a save. Lukas was bleeding, though thankfully it wasn't fatal. Skylar had the healing factor and Malus was just starting to warm up to the situation...though proved to be the most...prudent to the situation.

There was a great curiosity about this group, something that wasn't understood about them. they were a very different group of individuals, that much was certain. It wouldn't be long now before the game was in it's total field of view. There would be a buzzing on Luke and Pat's phones, a group message had been sent from Matthew's number.

We have the younger brother of Lukas and the mother of Patrick. When we catch you, we kill Matthew and that will lead to their untimely ends as well. You have been warned. My honor remains intact. The text said, it probably caught on quickly that Matthew wasn't using his own phone. But the others were made aware of the full stakes of this fucked up game. It was times like this that weaknesses such as honor were very useful tools. Especially when Matthew wasn't capable of defending himself for a moment. His cell phone, on the other hand was quite useful.