The Leauge Of Fail

[a_time_slip]

Janie had been back for a few days now, but was nervous about Snake Steele showing up again. She had weapons but feared she wouldn't be fast enough.

His attack came as a complete surprise, and one of her fears came true. All of the bad guys were working together, which would make winning a lot harder. Today, she was at a mostly empty diner, drowning her sorrows in a plate of pie and a glass of chocolate milkshake.

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[a_time_slip]

She jumped, for just a second, having realized that it was a friend talking to her.

"Julian. Yes, hi. Please, sit down."

Janie wondered if he got the warning about the attack Snake promised was coming to Julian.

[lostinthefog]

Julian sat down. His movements were still a little stiff, and there was a bandage around his right arm.

"Sorry", he said, watching her closely. "Didn't mean to startle you. Are you alright?"

[a_time_slip]

"What happened?" she asked, concerned "I'm- I'll be fine. Your arm..."

Janie was clearly worried, and kept glancing at his arm.

[lostinthefog]

"Nothing serious, it's healing. Kinda got into a fight."

He sighed, he hated to tell her about it, but he had to warn her. "Janie, I ran into this guy you mentioned. The one who tried to kill you. He ... he made a deal with Snake. I'm afraid he's after you."

[a_time_slip]

She looked surprised when Julian said he'd run into Giovan, but not so much when he said that Snake was after her.

"He already found me... and I tried to get a warning to you. I'm sorry."

[lostinthefog]

Hearing that made his blood run cold, and he was even more relieved that Janie was here, alive and seemingly well.

"Crap. I tried the same, couldn't reach you. Did he ... are you hurt?"

[a_time_slip]

"I was, but I'm okay now... I had to leave for a bit, I'm sorry."

She felt terrible for what happened to Julian. Her eyes kept going to the bandage and the scenarios rushed thorough her mind. "Do you need anything?"

[lostinthefog]

He looked just as worried, because one of the first things he thought of was the implant still in Snake's possession. If he had used that horrible thing ...

"No ... I'm healing. It just takes time."

He paused, hearing of Snake's attack made him angry, and his thoughts raced. "I'm so sorry for what he did to you. I've tried to find him, but ... you've seen what he can do, haven't you?"

[a_time_slip]

Luckily, he hadn't used the implant, but the attack had still shaken Janie up. "He can teleport... and he used his blades." she began.

"They're working together. I didn't think-" clearly, that scared her.

[lostinthefog]

Of course he knew Snake would have used the blades, but hearing that he indeed did so made it worse somehow.

"They are. And it's not only Snake and ... what's his name? He can teleport as well. In Snake's case, I know it's Vahl's doing, so it's at least the three of them."

Remembering the most recent events caused by Solus, he had to correct himself. "No. Four."

[a_time_slip]

"Giovan." she said, staring blankly at her pie. She knew what he was capable of, and the thought of him harming someone she considered a friend was horrible. "I don't know how he got those powers. Four."

Janie was almost ready to lose hope. "What are we going to do?"

[lostinthefog]

Julian followed her gaze which reminded him that he came here because he had been hungry, but somehow he had lost his appetite.

And he shared Janie's hopelessness.

"Can we do anything? I have no idea where we could even start looking for them, let alone do something. They got all kinds of freaky powers. I feel fairly useless, to be honest."

[a_time_slip]

"I can stop time." she admitted, it being something that she'd just discovered "It would be enough for us to get away, but that's hardly going to stop them from coming after us! Solus would just drain me again, and Giovan knows my moves too well..."

She had to think of something. This couldn't be it, could it? "We'll have to always be ready to fight. Always... how are you on weapons? I can give you weapons."

[lostinthefog]

Julian looked a little confused when Janie told him about her time-stopping ability, but he decided he didn't want to know any details he wouldn't understand anyway. It seemed helpful, and that was all he had to know.

He nodded.
"That's the problem, we can't run away." It sounded almost wistfully, because this used to be one of his most favorite strategies.

"I have built-in weapons." He raised his good hand to show his claws. "Although, if you have something that can keep them at a distance, I'll gladly try and learn how to use it."

[a_time_slip]

"I've got a few that might give us a few extra minutes. If Vahl and Solus weren't so powerful..."

Janie put her head in her hands for a second, before reaching into a pocket, and offering Julian something that could have been a flashlight. "It's a supercharged energy weapon. Level five, so I shouldn't even have it, but untwist it, and the barrel of the weapon slides out, the handle becomes the stock."

She wanted to run too, but running would mean that she was in hiding, and not free to do what she pleased. Freedom was a big thing for Janie..

[lostinthefog]

And running meant letting them continue to hurt innocent people. No, this time, it wasn't an option.

Julian took the 'flashlight', eyeing it closely. He brought it in a position in which it wouldn't be seen by other people in the diner and slowly untwisted it.

"Does it kill?" he asked quietly.

[a_time_slip]

"Yes." she said quietly "For normal people... It's got to at least hurt them, doesn't it?"

After another quiet moment, she spoke again. "It packs a lot of power... don't point it at anything you don't want destroyed."

[lostinthefog]

Julian nodded, still thoughtfully looking at the weapon. "I won't."

He was silent for a moment and then looked up, adding in a low voice: "Good. Of those four, Snake probably is what's closest to a 'normal' guy. I missed one chance to kill him. I won't miss another one."

[a_time_slip]

"Giovan should be normal, but he's not. I thought he was dead..." She looked ashamed for a moment, Janie blamed herself that he was still around and able to hurt her friends. "I'll kill him again when I get the chance... and I'll see what I can do about getting rid of those other two."

[lostinthefog]

Julian knew that way of thinking all to well, and despite having the same thoughts about Snake still being around, he felt it was wrong.

"It's not your fault", he said, looking directly at Janie. "It's his. Theirs. What they have done, what they are doing, it's been their choice, not ours. "

[a_time_slip]

She looked directly at Julian, and tried to believe him."Their choice, right."

[lostinthefog]

He sighed and looked at his hands again, he wasn't sure if he could believe himself.

"I know that it feels differently."

[a_time_slip]

"Honestly, it feels like my fault. If I'd just done what Giovan wanted, he'd be back on Kaldoa and you would be one enemy shorter. I appreciate what you're doing, to make me feel better. Thank you. I wish I could do the same for you."

[lostinthefog]

"Don't worry about me. One more or less, what's the difference?"

He looked up again.
"I didn't just say it to make you feel better, but because I mean it. Do you think that doing whatever Giovan wants is a guarantee he'll stop? Really?"

[a_time_slip]

"You're my friend." she admitted to him "I don't have many of those, and even less that I know will be around for a while. You're all... I can't lose you"

She thought for a minute about what Julian said about Giovan. "No. He likes causing trouble and pain to others."