Lady Pandora Page 2

Pages in Lady Pandora

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Author: Yoshiyami

~Without hesitation, Claire pops off the vial’s cork and swallows the antidote in a single gulp. The sharp pain in Claire’s thigh immediately subsides. However, Claire’s new, pain-free life is cut short by a spiked ball and chain grazing her shoulder and smashing into the brick wall behind her.~

Claire: Shit.

~Claire jumps onto Surprise’s head and bounces into the air as another spiked ball smashes into the dumpster and the helpless jack-in-the-box reducing them both to rubble (or rubble and a half if you don’t consider a mangled upper-torso of a man to be rubble).~

Rage: YOU DIE!!

~Rage hurls his third spiked ball at Claire who has been wall-jumping between the two buildings. Claire deflects the spiked ball with her scabbard and uses the new momentum to propel herself onto the gravel roof of one of the buildings. Claire smiles as she hears a “THWACK” followed by a howl of pain.~

Claire: Well, that’s that. Now to return home and kill that traitor Butterbridge…

~Suddenly, the howl becomes a series of spasmodic grunts, and the building begins to rumble and tilt.~

Claire: What the?

~Claire peers down the side of building and notices that the ground is much lower than it used to be.~

Rage: NOW YOU AND MANY PEOPLE DIE!!!!

Author: Golem

~Claire hears sirens far off in front of her. She looks behind her, spots a window on the top floor, and climbs down, putting her feet on the ledge under the window. She repeats this until she reaches two stories from the bottom, then jumps down to the ground and gets a few inches under the building so the building puts her under its shadow.~

Claire: HEY!

~Rage turns his head to find Claire, and instantly realizes she's under the building. He instantly puts it down, but she steps back those few inches and the building misses her.

Rage has now blocked himself in--on three sides by buildings and on a fourth by police cars.~

Claire: Can't let them see my bloody scabbard...

Butterbridge: Can't let who?

Claire: Butterbridge?!

Butterbridge: I was worried about you. Here, give me the scabbard, I'll hide it in my jacket.

Author: Fred

Claire: No! I can`t trust you, can I?

Butterbridge: Come, now, Claire. I`d much rather have you with your limbs intact, but in case you`re not going to go, well - (pulls out a gun, loads it with snake bullets) You know one piece doesn`t mean alive.

(Butterbridge takes aim until he hears the cocking of a gun against the back of his neck)

Gunman: You`re going to make me a lot of money, Butterbridge.

Butterbridge: Come now, I`m just trying to help her out. She knows it`s her only option. Quickly, while the police are distracted with Rage!

Gunman: I don`t care about all that. What I care about is money.

Butterbridge: You realise, of course, that snake bullets will have little if any effect.

Gunman: I used to be a bounty hunter. I know the value of using live ammunition. Now, you`re coming with me.

Butterbridge: Fine, whatever, the scabbard, first!

Claire: ...I can`t.

Butterbridge: Then I`m afraid I`m going to have to-

Gunman: If you fire, you give away our position, even under the noise of those police officer guns. No, come with me now. And you (looks at Claire) don`t do anything stupid.

(Suddenly, the gunman`s gun fires, blasting a large gash into the neck of Butterbridge)

Surprise: surprise! I totally got you, huh?

Gunman:...

(Policemen corpses fly by through the alley into a wall not far from them, as Rage storms in, head back on it`s shoulders and twice as large - with hundreds of bullets stucks all over it`s body, including some large chunks blown out with police grenades. Rage is partially on fire, also due to said explosives)

Rage: CRUSH, MAIM, OBLITERATE...

(Surprise, the gunman and Claire all make a run from the giant, with police still shooting at it`s back to no avail)

Claire: You know what would be a NICE surprise? The pandora blade (jumps to avoid a spiked chain with a wrecking ball on the end, shattering the ground)

Gunman: Shit, everything`s ruined...

Claire: Shutup and keep running!

Surprise: You know what would be a great surprise? Running into a dead end! Whoops, I spoiled it!

Claire: No, it wouldn`t. Wait-

Gunman: Son of a bitch, you mean -

Surprise: Anger is often a side-effect of surprise!

Claire: Shouldn`t you be dead?

Surprise: Isn`t it surprising I`m still around?

Gunman: I`ve never felt the urge to shoot myself before, but... (turns a hard right to avoid another spiked chain, and the jumps over left with Claire to avoid it sliding dangerously across the ground)

Claire: You won`t have to worry about that, here`s the dead end.

Gunman: I`m too tired to make a run for the middle of the legs...

Claire: I don`t remember these buildings being like this in this corner of the city. When Surprise said dead end, I guess it meant it.

Author: Yoshiyami

~Suddenly several Royal Army tanks roll into the street stopping Rage in his tracks.~

Gunman: All right, this should buy us some time…follow me!

~The gunman leads Claire and Surprise back into the street towards a manhole cover.~

Surprise: Wait! Are we gonna take her back to the HQ?

Gunman: Yes. ~whispers to Surprise~ I think she’s the one the boss has been looking for.

Surprise: But what if…the fake boss finds out?

Gunman: Knowing Chaos, I doubt he’ll give a shit.

Meanwhile…

~Chaos casually strolls down a street a littered with the debris of destroyed buildings and mangled police corpses. Chaos notices Butterbridge’s corpse, blood still flowing freely from the back of his head into the cobblestone cracks of the road, and smiles.~

Chaos: Heh heh…I love it when things…don’t go as planned…

Author: Golem

~Later, Claire is led out of the sewers by Gunman and Surprise. They are near the outskirts of the city, and a forest is close by. They walk into the forest. Claire tries to commit the path to memory, but is unsure of her success. Finally, they reach a log cabin.~

Gunman: Here we are.

Surprise: Allow me.

~Surprise opens the ramshackle wooden door and inside is a spotless white room with people working furiously at desks with computers. In the center of the back of the room is a man looking straight ahead at the doorway, into Claire's eyes.~

Man: Hello! I'm Mr. Rutherford. Take a seat, Claire.

~Claire does so. She notices the name tag "GREED" on Rutherford's desk.~

Rutherford: Claire, we have tried detaining you. But that simply isn't cutting it. So I am hoping you can be reasonable and we can reach an agreement.

Claire: Oh?

Rutherford: The reason we've been trying to detain you is because of Chaos. His unpredictable and dangerous activities led him to steal a deadly precious box from our organization days after we had found it.

Claire: Deadly?

Rutherford: The box only opens with someone with DNA from your family. Inside is terrible a disease that was created in a lab, something that would doom large portions of life on this planet, if not all life. Your grandfather created the disease, but he also created an antidote, which was stored in the Pandora Sword. Unfortunately, we have not found the Pandora Sword yet. Knowing Chaos, he will try to use you to open it and unleash the disease. We only meant to detain you so that you could be informed in private of the danger you are in and so that Chaos would not know that you knew. However, not even Lust could slip by Chaos' radar. We have been as unsuccessful in reclaiming the box as we have been in detaining you. We think that you could reclaim the box for us, and in exchange, you get a healthy portion of the profits we make.

Claire: Your organization seems more sinister than you make it sound. You yourself have a nametag labelling you as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Rutherford: The creator of the archeological agency found originality to be key in success of many things, including trying to find items such as lost boxes or lost swords. As such, we're all named after our abilities that aid the organization. It is a method of specializing work. You can call me "Greed" in the same sense that you would call me "Treasurer."

Claire: Hm. I am willing to join under a contract. And if your people try to kill me or harm me in any way, I will not hesitate to open the box.

Rutherford: And let me apologize deeply for our earlier behavior. Detaining you by force was the wrong way to attempt to stop the box from being opened.

Claire: ...By the way, where do you get your profits from?

Rutherford: As I have said, we are an archeological agency. We sell what we can find to museums.

Claire: I see. Let's get to that contract.

Author: Yoshiyami

Rutherford: ~chuckles~ Don’t worry, there are no actual “contracts”; just your promise that you’ll help us retrieve the box back from them.

Claire: Fine.

Rutherford: Thank you. Now let me give you some background information on myself and the organization that we’re up against, Yin.

~Rutherford rolls up his sleeve revealing a black, yin-shaped tattoo on his shoulder.~

Rutherford: When you join Yin, you are given a “sinful” name and are branded with a symbol which gives you a power based on the sin you epitomize. Both your name and its respective power are determined and granted by the mysterious leader whom we all refer to as “Evil”.

Claire: Are you a former member Yin or what?

Rutherford: That is correct. I left Yin after I learned about their plans regarding the box but not before stealing it for myself, of course!

Claire: Which was stolen back.

Rutherford: Yes, yes…which was…stolen back…

Claire: So what were their plans?

Rutherford: They planned to use one of the creator’s descendents to open the box and release the disease upon the world. And with the Pandora’s Sword in their possession, they would be the sole survivors who would restart civilization and rule over it with an iron fist for eternity.

Claire: Then why would you join Yin in the first place?

Rutherford: ~chuckles~ Because I love having the power…

~Rutherford snaps his fingers. Hundreds of bills and coins shoot out from everyone’s pockets towards Rutherford and orbit around his head.~

Rutherford: ~smiles~ …to control money. And if there aren’t any ignorant people alive to steal from… ~rhetorically shrugs~…where is my money going to come from?

Gunman: Hey, boss! Stop trying to impress the new lady and give us our money back!

Rutherford: Why should I? You failed your mission!

Gunman: What?! Do the deaths of Fear and Lust mean nothing to you?!

Rutherford: Maybe if you had killed CHAOS as well. You know, the person whom I ASSIGNED for you to kill!

Claire: I assume the gunman and the jack-in-the-box are working undercover for you?

Rutherford: Yes. Force and Surprise are bounty hunters I hired for the sole purpose of joining Yin as undercover agents and stealing the box back.

Gunman: And doing your laundry.

Rutherford: And you have failed to do BOTH!

Author: Fred

Gunman: We coulda taken Lust hostage, if it wasn`t for Surprise here...

Rutherford: Be quiet, Force. It doesn`t matter if you get your paycheck if the world is handed over to Chaos.

Gunman: I think you`re just being Greedy, you old bastard. Would you rather I work for Yin?

Rutherford: Of course not. I`ll pay you, only because the payout will be higher in the end.

Claire: So, does that mean we`re not doing anything dangerous?

Gunman: Hrmph.

Rutherford: On a realitive scale. Chaos, Rage, Malice, Envy and Disease are monsters of a sort you`d most likely not be able to survive. No, we need to find the most important key of all - one that will allow us to not only crush Yin, but vaccinate the box and it`s threat in General.

Claire: The Pandora sword.

Rutherford: Right. I believe I have pinpointed it`s location, or at least something that contains the next clue to it. Trust me, this has been the ongoing work of quite a bit of time, and it is fortuitous that you showed up when you did. It is underneath Buckingham palace - there are catacombs beneath the lowest corridors, but to get to them you need to enter the king`s chamber and the switch is in there, somewhere.

Claire: (nods) My Grandfather was a chemist and swordsmith of more than some renown, working for the royal family. How do you know all this?

Rutherford: I unearthed an old map in one particular vase that was stolen from the palace a century ago-

Surprise: Surprise! Chaos knows where it is, now! I`ve been a double agent all along! Oh, man, was it ever difficult to keep that in I mean-

(Surprise is both sliced and blown away at the same time)

Gunman: That rat bastard. Come on, let`s away to Buckingham.

Claire: What? We can`t just barge in there!

Gunman: We`re going to have to. One time I was hired to hit a guy trying to hit the royal family but had ta` do it incognito, I know the place and it`s secret passageways like the back of my hand.

Rutherford: I`ll try to hold down the fort, and everything I- I mean, we, own.

Claire: Nice to know you`ve got your priorities straight. I trust you can defend yourself?

Rutherford: What part of absolute control over money don`t you understand? Go, go!

Author: GORE-ILLA

• A truck pulls up near Buckingham Palace in the dead of night. The second the truck stops, Claire and Gunman emerge from their hiding places in the truck and quickly find new hiding places in the shadows of a nearby building. Gunman watches Buckingham Palace, which is right across the street, through a pair of binoculars.*

Claire: Alright, Force. How do we get in there?

Gunman: We'll have to get to the side of the building. There's a secret entrance there.

• Claire eyes him warily, recalling Surprise's betrayal quite freshly.*

Gunman: ...Coast is clear, let's go!

• Gunman races off towards the palace, and Claire runs in pursuit. However, she trips over a rock. After climbing to her feet, she squints in search of Gunman. She sees a shadow standing still near her and, thinking Gunman had stayed behind waiting for her, she approaches.*

Claire: Force?

• Claire walks even closer, feeling a chill suddenly. The shadow does not get clearer. The shadow then roars and flies forward, wrapping itself around Claire.*

Shadow: There's nothing to Fear... but me.

Author: Golem

Claire: No.

~Claire puts one hand over Forketongue the Feared's mouth and one hand over his stomach, silencing him as she pushes herself away from him. Forketongue pushes back against Claire, throwing her off of him. Gunman then hits Forketongue over the head, knocking him out.~

Gunman: We'll have to make this quick, who knows who else was with Forketongue?

Claire: There may be others, but make sure your head stays leveled. Obviously Forketongue was there to play off of our fear.

Author: Yoshiyami

Force: Hey…um…sorry about trying to…capture you earlier. ~lets out a forced laugh~ Isn’t it ironic how I failed my real boss’s mission but accomplished my fake one’s?

Claire: ~whispers~ You’re going to fail this one, too, if you don’t shut up. ~clutches her scabbard tightly~ Let’s go.

~Claire and Force continue their way through the dimly moonlit streets as quickly but quietly as possible until they approach the Admiralty Arch.~

Claire: We’re going to have to cross the Mall to get to the palace. A long and open corridor like that will be nigh-impossible to get across without getting sniped by the Falcon Watch.

Force: Leave this to me.

~Force opens his suitcase and pulls out a sleek, black sniper rifle.~

Force: This beauty put bullets through the heads of two-hundred and fifty-seven soldiers during the Fifth World War.

Claire: Wouldn’t this give away our location?

Force: Don’t worry. Once I count how many there are, I’ll take them all out in a matter of seconds.

Author: Golem

~Force easily snipes the seven men of the Falcon Watch. Claire and Force move on to the secret passageway. At the end of it, they come to a hall full of paintings.~

Force: ~whispering~ Now, the keys to the basement should be behind one of these pictures.

Claire: ~whispering~ You don't know which one?

Force: Before, I had to kill someone, there was no need for a basement key.

~Just then, a chandelier in the hall drops a few meters in front of Claire and Force. As pieces of glass shatter and fly everywhere, Claire and Force dash back to the secret passageway, only to find its door--which blends in with the wall--closed. Force tries to kick down what he thinks is the door, but fails.

The lights of the palace turn on and Claire and Force see a woman standing on top of the chandelier.~

Woman: What you did to the Falcon Watch is inexcusable.

Pages in Lady Pandora

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