roleswap v2 | tinkerhell

[mylawn]

[He's always known, on some level, that Reyes--the mercenary that used to be Reyes--would catch up to him eventually, despite his best efforts. There's only so much he can do to keep word from spreading, especially when he's. Well. What he is, and doing what he's doing. So far he's managed to be elusive, and he would've liked to keep it that way, but he supposes that this confrontation is inevitable.

So he'll make it happen on his own terms. He starts leaving clues, lets Reyes track him to the abandoned warehouse that's already familiar to him so that he can have the meeting on his own turf.

He doesn't know what Reyes expects to find--if he even knows who is waiting for him at the end of this chase, or if he's just after the whispers of the thing that's been ghosting its way in and out of old Overwatch bases. He likes to think he's covered his tracks well enough, but if he'd been truly thorough, he wouldn't be preparing for this encounter in the first place.

All he can really do is stick to the shadows and wait. At the very least, he can safely say that he has the upper hand.]

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[tinkerhell]

[It could never be said that Reyes wasn't tactically minded, but when it came to what was left of his ghosts, he very nearly took leave of his senses. Gabriel moves with all the caution of a hungry dog -- he doesn't know what he is getting, but he knows he is close to the answer. What happened to Overwatch? Who was at the end of it all? And what is the shadow that keeps hanging over him?

Admittedly, the shadow is a bit of a detour from finding out what happened to Overwatch but he has some suspicions. After all, if he had survived the blast, maybe others had too. Maybe that was wishful thinking-- but he had to focus.

He is armed, but Reyes was never one to come straight through the front door alone. He follows the carefully laid trap (that he would later realize could only be placed by one of two people) through a window in the back of the warehouse. It drops him on the upper level--which appears empty. He takes the opportunity to carefully reach for his shotgun off his back. The HUD readout on his peripheral isn't picking up a heat signature. The visor was all he had left of his old friend, but it has never worked as well for him as it did for Jack.

Where are you?]

[mylawn]

[Jack has spent an awful lot of time thinking about all the ways this meeting could go. Six years later, he’s still burning with rage to the point where he knows he’s going to have to stop himself from killing Gabriel outright. He reminds himself with what little clarity he has that he needs answers, and that Reyes will need to be alive to give them.

Luckily, he has a distinct advantage—the only uncertainty is whether Reyes knows it’s him or not. He’ll bank on the fact that he does, simply because they’ve worked together far too long to not recognize each other’s ever move, but, well. He’s not exactly human anymore. There’s still the possibility, even as heavy footfalls signal the arrival of the person he’s lured here.

He’s melted entirely into the dark corners of the abandoned facility, finding it more advantageous to quite literally shadow Gabriel as he starts to make his way inside. Reyes has to know he’s here—Jack would be terribly disappointed in his abilities as black ops if he didn’t know when he was being watched.

So maybe he doesn’t need to be so careful—he can give a good chase, after all. He breaks the stillness by all at once rushing past Gabriel, a trail of black smoke leading him deeper into the facility. He’ll have to be quick if he wants to keep up.]

[tinkerhell]

[Once Gabriel reaches what he believes to be an advantageous position, he kneels down and waits, one hand on the barrel of his gun and the other checking his grip on the trigger. And he sits, still as a gargoyle, waiting.

And there it is. Gabriel catches it in his peripheral just as the shadow darts past him. Up comes the shot gun, a loud BANG echoing through the empty facility as the shrapnel embeds itself in the wall. He's fast, but he isn't faster than light. Wild with hunger for the chase, he springs off his feet to follow the trail he's been given.

Reckless? Certainly. But he's seen this before -- never quite this close, but he's seen it, and he absolutely has to have answers.]

Stop running and face me!

[Its a vicious, predatory snarl, the HUD lighting up again to track the smoke as it disperses.]

[mylawn]

[Jack is watching even as he encourages Gabriel to give chase, though he’s never quite gotten used to the way he navigates his surroundings while incorporeal. There’s a great deal about his form that doesn’t make sense, and he’s stopped trying to question it. He was never as good at adapting as Gabriel was, and he imagines that much is clear in the way he’s given up trying to make sense of what he is or what he can do. Just press on. Point A to Point B—it’s easier when he has something to focus on, and right now all of his attention is on Reyes.

He likes to think he’s not so much running as he is giving himself a more advantageous position, but the sound of the gunshot and Gabriel’s familiar snarl has him wheeling around, a furious miasma that somehow seems to take head of his warning.

Of course Jack is ready to give him a fight. All at once, the dark smoke seems to coalesce, launching itself at Gabriel, his arms solidifying as he turns on his pursuer and reaches for his throat.]

[tinkerhell]

[The solidness that suddenly descends on him almost pushes him straight into the ground. Its sheer strength and stubbornness that keeps his weight on his back foot as Jack's hands close around his throat. He'd managed to wedge his arms and the gun between them, keeping him from getting close enough to overwhelm.

And for a moment, he struggles to gain back the upper hand, unable to maneuver his shoulders to force the other man off of him. But eventually, he wriggles enough to free his elbow, which he promptly uses to check Jack in the face after twisting his body with all his might.

It forces him to abandon the gun, but he doesn't need it. Not until this--whatever this is can be finished off.]

[mylawn]

[Jack is half-solid, trying to pin Gabriel with his rapidly-amassing weight. He can tell it's caught him off-guard, and there's a satisfaction in it, knowing that Reyes was always three steps ahead, but there's no way he could have prepared for this. The victory, however, is short-lived as an elbow meets his still-coalescing face. He's wearing a mask, but that doesn't mean he can't feel the impact, and it jars him backwards.

He makes his displeasure immediately known with a snarl, but for a moment he's sent reeling by the impact, enough of him solid that the blow is effective. His grip doesn't break, but for a moment it slackens, Gabriel's twisting body making it that much more difficult to keep hold.]

[tinkerhell]

[Despite the fact that he's already won his freedom, Gabriel was a vicious brawler. He doesn't take the distance right away and uses his elbow to swing once, twice into that masked face of his to try and daze him either into a retreat, or into a state that will make it easier to finish him off. Being able to put down this bounty hunter after months of hounding would be reward enough for him.

It wouldn't bring Overwatch back but it would make him feel better.

He goes for the mask with the intent of ripping it off to punch him directly.]

[mylawn]

[He’s forgotten how brutal Gabriel can be in a fight. There’s a part of him that relishes the familiarity, the impact of his blows, the way his head snaps back as the elbow crushes into his mask. Jack has never been one to lay down and take it, however, even if a part of him knows he deserves this. Fingers scrabble along the edges of his visor and he’s immediately dissolving again, trying to reposition himself more advantageously.

The mask is going to come off, he’s sure. Jack just wants it to be on his own terms.

He re-forms around Gabriel’s side, arm reaching out to work its way around his throat, pull him back into a hold, if he can.]

You’re gonna have to do better than that.

[His voice is distorted, but not so much so that there won’t be something familiar about it.]

[tinkerhell]

[Fighting an opponent that can disappear and reappear at will is challenging, to say the least. Every opponent he has ever fought that even came close to those feats didn't actually become incorpreal. So when he reappears and descents in his neck, Gabriel only has time to get his fingers between the arms suddenly constricting his windpipe. He is prepared to throw himself to the side to try and toss him --

-- Or, he had been, before he spoke. Reyes pauses in spite of himself and instead makes the poor decision to continue attempting to pry his grip away. That voice. He hadn't heard that voice in nearly thirty years, if he isn't just hearing things. It couldn't be. He was supposed to be dead. He's gone and searched, but...well, he had never found a body. So maybe...

He had to see for himself. He thrashes with a frustrated snarl.]

What are you--?

[mylawn]

[Jack could easily dissolve into smoke again, let Gabriel claw at the air while he remains intangible, but there’s something viscerally satisfying about fighting this way, the weight and the feel of the struggle underneath him. He tightens his grip, digs his heel in. Gabriel’s fingers in the way are enough to keep him from being choked out, but otherwise Jack ins’t budging.]

I don’t know.

[That much is the truth, and there’s real pain in his voice, because Jack doesn’t know what he is, besides some kind of dead. He’d give a lot to find out, but the thought of being an experiment again is intolerable. Without any legitimate options, all he can do is take his anger out on the closest, easiest target.]

You got any ideas?