NTWF Mafia: The Little Country Town

[icon]

Icon made a mad dash- the way back to his house was winding and twisty, but it was mostly a one-way street, which made reaching the place convenient. Unfortunately, this made the investigator following him- who Icon still didn't know about- much harder to lose. Ah, there was his house! Nearly jumping with joy, he bounded forward.

Was the door locked? He couldn't remember if he had shut it on the way out, but much to his luck he hadn't. He dashed inside eagerly. "Let's see, stungun, stungun... where did I put that blasted thing?" He rifled through his belongings madly. "I could have sworn I left it on the table... argh!" He looked through his belongings. "Maybe it was in the other room..." He started toward his bedroom, ready to see if he could find oh my god was that an investigator coming in through the door-

No time to think- Grabbing the closest item within reach, he charged forward and brought it down on the man's head. Typewriter met cranium in a heavy sounding clunk and the man fell over onto the floor, unconscious. Icon stood there for a moment in panic, then dropped the typewriter, pushed the man out the door, and started searching through his bedroom in search for the stungun.

He found it fallen behind his dresser. "Yes!" Giving a cheer of triumph, it occurred to him that others might still be in hearing range. He sheepishly pocketed the weapon. He was ready to go... halfway out the door he paused. Should he bring his typewriter with him? Sure, it would slow him down, possibly even risk him his life if he brought it, but at the same time... the thrill of writing up the news firsthand, of being at the scene when it happened, guaranteeing himself the first to get the big scoop...

He grabbed the typewriter quickly and ran back uptown, taking care to lock his door this time. He wasn't paying any attention to GSIS agents who could have spotted him; he needed to make sure Robyn was safe.

[Draco]

Nameless is unsure what to do. He saw that he zapped a ghost and it ran away, but the other ghosts were still around. He takes aim and fires again.

"Yeehaw! Don't messs with me and my Ghost Sparker! Now get down here so I can interr- ... Interra- ... So I can question you!"

He waves teh Ghost Sparker around and fires it again.

[Robyn]

Robyn stayed steady after her speech, surprised that her words had actually gotten across to everyone.

"I-I think you're right Robyn. Maybe ghosts just cant die?"

She jumped and held one of the glass shards higher as Luna got closer. The wolf-girl's actions had confused and terrified her, even if her intentions had been sincere. And she wasn't even sure about that. Her eyes darted over to Terra as she spoke up.

“Maybe you’re right, Robyn. Maybe we should just leave each other alone. What’s the point?”

There was an eerie whistling as Terra rocketed forward with the knife raised high.

“Or maybe you’re only saying that because you’re afraid of what might happen if you’re wrong.”

Robyn's narrowed eyes turned saucer-wide as Terra barreled towards her, barely giving her enough time to aim her own weapon in defense. But her expression steeled as Terra drew ever closer, and Robyn decided that if she was going down, she'd at least be able to take Terra with her.

At least, until Ari came up and totally got stabbed in the shoulder instead. She must've slipped out of Terra's hold when Robyn wasn't looking. Luna growled and yelled as she yanked Robyn out of the way completely, even going so far as to take one of the lens halves out of her hand.

"Hey!" Robyn said, but Luna just replied, "I need this." Luna turned to Terra again, and Robyn couldn't help but feel indignant. What business did Ari and Luna have risking their afterlives in a fight that wasn't theirs? Terra had attacked her, and she had retaliated. It shouldn't have gotten as out of hand as it had.

Out of nowhere, something that resembled a laser zapped Ari, who then managed to extricate herself from the knife and flew off. Robyn saw the man that had been in Icon's house standing to the side, aiming that pen-thing at them and firing wildly.

"Yeehaw! Don't messs with me and my Ghost Sparker! Now get down here so I can interr- ... Interra- ... So I can question you!"

This guy was insane. But perhaps this insanity was just the ticket Robyn needed to make a quick getaway. She'd been a ghost longer than anyone in this town (well, besides the floozy, wherever she was), and she was sure she had a few tricks up her sleeve that Terra didn't know about yet. Robyn drifted a little bit to the left, putting herself right in the line of fire for one of the sparks that was heading that way. She braced for pain, and she was surprised when it actually hit her. It felt more ticklish than anything else. She shot an incredulous look towards Nameless before going through with her plan.

"Agh!" she suddenly screamed at him, "What did you do?"

She feigned doubling over in pain, contorting her face as she concentrated on losing her visibility. Her translucency began to wisp away. Perfect, perfect! she thought.

"It's all-- I can't--"

Robyn gave a shuddering gasp, and then a quiet sigh as she passed all the way into obscurity. Without waiting to see if anyone had bought it or not, she floated down into the ground, eager to get away. She glided past pipes and dirt as she thought about what to do next. Even if Terra did give chase (which, Robyn was almost 95% sure she would if she realized it had been an act), she was at least going to try and make sure Icon was okay first. She'd tell him what was going on, find out what was happening with him, and get a real chance to say goodbye. That sounded nice.

Once she felt she'd gotten far enough away from the plaza, she carefully resurfaced. She was in one of the more pleasant back roads of the town, where the walls of nearby buildings created a path shaded by intermittent trees and vines. Leaves and flower petals littered the street. It was really quite picturesque, Robyn thought, but she soon turned her mind to the last time she'd heard Icon. She'd heard someone take him away...but they hadn't said where they were going, or if they had, she hadn't noticed. She "sat" down by the wall, balancing her head in one hand as she realized she had absolutely no idea of how to start looking for him.

That is, until she heard a crash by the fence on the other side of the alley.

"Ow!" came a familiar voice.

Robyn leapt up, uttering a quick word of her own as her back stretched. She pushed the pain away, flew over, and broke out into a smile at the impossible sight before her-- Icon was sprawled out on the ground, apparently having tried to jump the fence while carrying around that cumbersome typewriter. It was a bit strange to see that thing from the outside now. His suit was torn in places, and his glasses were askew on his face as he looked up.

"ICON!" she cried, floating down to his level, "Oh my God, I was so worried! Okay, I have to make this fast, but first of all, I'm out of your typewriter, that happened, that's a thing. Second, Terra is trying to re-kill me, and I pushed her knife into the typewriter, and Luna and Ari got in on it and we got blood everywhere but no one's died yet and I just now got away. She stabbed me pretty good in the back, and that really hurts, but I'm not sure if she's killed anyone, but I know Terra's not going to stop until she's proved ghosts can either die or they can't. But there was a point where she was about to kill me and I thought about you and how I wanted to say thanks and I'm sorry and-- and--"

Robyn took a deep breath and let it back out.

"Sorry. Enough about me. How are you holding up? I'm just...oh, wow, I'm really glad to see you again."

[Avery]

The Narrator arrives back to the pizzeria just in time to witness Glenda's death and the following mass exodus. Now the streets have dissolved into chaos, the townspeople fighting with the GSIS, ghosts floating about, the entire scene something out of an action movie.

The Narrator knows this is why she and Drake and the grocer had gone to Luna's in the first place-- in order to stock up on weapons to fight-- but still, the whole thing sets her on edge. Thinking about fighting was one thing; actually doing it, though? For cripes sake, she was a baker, a butcher, not a boxer!

Trying not to let her nerves show, the Narrator fishes out the sharpest knife she took from Luna's and unsheathes it. Grips the blade tight in her hand. Forces herself into the thick of the crowd.

"This is mad," she says aloud as the town historian, a seemingly frail lady older than the Narrator's grandmother, gives a GSIS bloke a square punch in the face, knocking him off balance. "I mean, really crazy..."

As she speaks, she narrowly avoids an elbow in the ribs by another of the ruthless investigators. She counters with a slash to his cheek, then stares horrified as the man grasps his wound and stumbles away. She was used to carving up dead bodies, but live bodies-- still bleeding ones!-- made her far less comfortable.

Still, she realizes, as the GSIS guy the historian punched retaliates with a pistol whip, it's come to the point of necessity. Us vs. them. The last stand, the final hurrah.

This is it, she thinks. This is the end.

[Lizzie]

Candy was holding a knife the wrong way.

"Ummm... Am I supposed to hold it like this?" she held up the knife to the nearest 'waffler and furrowed her eyebrows.

She couldn't stand looking at Glenda's body--- just thinking about it made her cry. Killed by her favorite thing.

Candy stared quizzically at the knife.

[Terra]

Ariana screamed as Terra sliced her shoulder. Then, suddenly, a thin stream of light came and hit Ariana, causing her to yelp again and fly away.

Terra turned and looked for the source of the stream. A GSIS agent was hiding in the shadows. Not very well, but still.

"Yeehaw! Don't messs with me and my Ghost Sparker! Now get down here so I can interr- ... Interra- ... So I can question you!"

He fired off another stream and hit Robyn.

"Agh!" she suddenly screamed at him, "What did you do?"

Robyn was starting to fade.

"It's all-- I can't--"

She gasped and disappeared.

Terra stared at the spot, eyes wide. Was it really that easy to kill a ghost?

But if that was how it worked, why hadn’t the same thing happened to Ariana? Or had it happened after she’d run away?

Terra had her suspicions, but she couldn’t do anything about it right then. She wasn’t going to be able to find Robyn, regardless.

She turned to Luna.

“Let’s not fight right now,” she said. “We can come back to this later.”

She flew away to a distant, quiet spot between some trees. If it was possible for ghosts to turn invisible or some such thing, she was going to figure out how.

[Luna]

Terra stab Ari in the shoulder, and blood streamed down her. Air yelled, but then was zapped by a laser, she gave a yelp which made her fly off. Then another one hit Robyn.

"Agh! What did you do?" Robyn yelled, she fell and was fading away. It's all-- I can't--

Luna was confused. What was happening to Robyn?

Robyn faded away into the ground.

She faced Terra, glass in her hands, ready to strike. Terra looked at her.

“Let’s not fight right now, we can come back to this later." Than Terra flew off into the tree's.

Luna sighed. What was all that about? Why did she even help Robyn? They where never good friends.
She started floated to her house when she saw a complete war going on. GSIS men where shoot guns at everyone, and the townspeople had all of her weapons. Her weapons! They invaded her home? They better have paid for them. Some of those things took hours on end to make and carve.

She watched as Nelly slash a guy in the face with one of her sharpest knives. The man stumbled back, and blood from the wound had splattered all over the ground. Another man pulled out his gun and aims toward the townspeople. They all were fighting for they're lives. If they hadn't of lynched her, Luna could have helped a lot.
She was an expert with knives and blades, and basic fighting too. She could jump on those guys shoulders and snap there necks, then use the body as defense from attacks.

Why we she even thinking about that, nothing she could do now, but watch.

The blacksmith couldn't stand to watch it. It was horrible. She turned back around and floated toward the pizzeria. She wondered why Icon had run away from the Pizzeria, maybe he didn't want to be in the war. Maybe he just had to find Robyn, he'd probably seen everything go down out he--

She then accidentally bumped into Celes Teal's ghost.

"Oh, sorry." She said to the girl.

[icon]

After trying to take a shortcut, Icon found himself speeding through the back alleys of the town. It was surprisingly pleasant and calm, although he payed little attention as he ran past the aged buildings. However, the typewriter he carried proved to be a larger hassle than he originally imagined, and eventually he had to slow himself down to a mere crawl. As much as he would have loved to speed along and get to his friend, it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Panting, he pressed forward, eventually reaching a fenced-off dead end. "No two ways about it," he muttered as he tried clambering over. It was surprisingly easy to get up, but once he tried to cross over to the other side the typewriter swung him off balance and he fell to the ground with a thud. "Ow!"

He rubbed his head and cursed himself mentally. What was he doing, sitting here like this? Robyn could be injured, or seriously hurt, or... or something! He tried to get up, angry, irritated, when suddenly-

"ICON!"

He glanced over. Was that Robyn? Sure enough, Robyn's ghost was floating over eagerly, telling him about what had happened. Propping himself up, he gave a weak grin. "Wow, Robyn, you look great. Er, all things considered," he stuttered. It was a blatant lie, of course-- both of them were in complete shambles, covered in scrapes and injuries-- but the girl had just nearly been killed a second time, he figured he might as well boost her confidence a bit, goodness knows she could use it. Plus, he hadn't actually seen her all that well since her death. Amazing what could happen over the course of a few days!

She continued to give him the lowdown about everything. He blinked in surprise when she mentioned the knife in the typewriter, and grimaced when she said that Terra was still going after her. And then she asked about him.

"I've, err... well, I've been better, to say the least. You would not believe the day I have had," he chuckled ruefully, then gave a sad sigh. "There really isn't anything to be sorry for... if anything, I should be apologizing on your part. The punch spill, the irritated conversations, leaving you behind on so much... I'm sorry. You deserved better."

He leaned his back up against the fence. "You've got a point though, we should probably be careful. An investigator- they're the ones who barged in earlier- tailed me, I had to knock him out, but there could be more. It's insane out there, things are about to boil over. I know that you've got business with Terra- there's no way I can really interfere with that- but still... it's dangerous to go alone." He offered the typewriter to her. "Take this. Err. The knife inside, I mean."

They sat there for a few moments in silence.

"...Robyn... if what Terra was trying is true- about ghosts being able to die- well, how do I say it... I'd... I'd hate it if that were to happen to you." Icon tugged awkwardly at his collar. "Robyn, we've been friends for a while, and I suppose... how do I say this... I suppose all I really wanted to say was... thank you. Thank you for everything." He reached over to hug her.

...But then his arms went through her awkwardly. "Err. Uh. Sorry, still haven't gotten used to that."

[Celestial]

Before Celes could walk out of the pizzeria, she lucked out. Luna bumped into her, not even noticing who it was. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Depending on how she handled it, she could easily solve this entire case.

She ran after Luna and grabbed her, giving her a big warm hug, grinning at her dumbly.

"Luna! Thank goodness! I'm so happy to find another soul around this place! I've been so scared, I've hated being dead and this war is certainly not doing me any favours!" Celes sputtered excitedly. "You seem smart enough, would you mind filling me in? First though, I have to call my butler."

She dragged Luna by the wrist behind her to the nearest phone, picking up the reciever and dialling the number of her manor, placing a collect call.

"Hello, Teal residence, Albert speaking. How may I help you?" Albert answered stoically on the other side. Celes grinned.

"Bertie, hi! So happy to hear from you!"

"Delighted to receive a call from you too, ma'am. Is there something you wanted?"

"Yeah. Mr. Williams, right? He's supposed to be coming over, isn't he? Well, tell him about my current condition. I know he's usually very cross but I expect him to be in high spirits today."

"Certainly, ma'am. I shall pass on the message," Albert said conversationally and hung up. Celes put the receiver back onto the phone and turned around to face Luna, giving the blacksmith a warm smile.

"Sorry about that. Had guests but it is very rude to keep them waiting. Now..." she said, approaching Luna. Her eyes suddenly became very menacing "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me who the last mafioso alive is, hmm?"

Celes had been training to the protector of this town for a while. Despite her death cutting her heroing career very short, she still had all that training under her belt, including combat training. While she did not want to get cocky and say she could easily take Luna down, she felt that she was a match for the blacksmith. And since they were both ghosts, they were on equal ground.

The girl aimed a swift blow at Luna's neck, followed by a kick to her feet.

[Luna]

"Luna! Thank goodness! I'm so happy to find another soul around this place! I've been so scared, I've hated being dead and this war is certainly not doing me any favours! You seem smart enough, would you mind filling me in? First though, I have to call my butler."

"Oh, uh, hi-" Before Luna could o anything, Celes was dragging her to a phone booth. Celes could some how pick up objects that where not ghostly, she wondered how, but didn't pay much attention. Celes had a talk with someone, seemed serious.

"Sorry about that. Had guests but it is very rude to keep them waiting. Now... I don't suppose you'd like to tell me who the last mafioso alive is, hmm?"

"No, I wo-" Oh jeez what was that? Luna felt Celes punch her in the throat, a good tactic for pain. She felt something on her feet, but it was not use, because she was wearing her steel toed boots.

She fell to the ground from the punch. She couldn't do anything for a second. The punch had gotten to her. "Celes, Wha--what?" She looked around and saw Celes. She kicked Celes in the shin, and jumped up. "I was just fighting Terra, so if you wanna go, I'll go."

Luna still had the glass from Robyn. Or she thought she did. She apparently didn't have it in her hands, she must've dropped it from being punched. No matter, she still had claws and teeth.

[Terra]

It took a little while, but Terra was able to figure it out.

It just took the right kind of concentration, and she was able to turn invisible.

However, she found that she couldn’t turn the knife invisible along with her. Maybe it was because it wasn’t hers - that was all she could think of, anyway.

But anyway, there was little doubt in her mind that Robyn had played a trick on her. The girl was clever. She’d have to keep an eye out. Who knew what she would do next?

Still invisible, she floated back toward the pizzeria, but stopped short when she saw the crowd of townspeople fighting the GSIS. Not far from them, the ghost of Celes Teal struck Luna’s neck and knocked her down.

Celes Teal. The girl who thought she could save everyone. She was still trying, even in her afterlife. For a moment, Terra contemplated roughing her up a bit, trying to break her spirit a little, but thought twice when she heard Luna speak.

"I was just fighting Terra, so if you wanna go, I'll go."

She wasn’t really in the mood to worry about them ganging up on her. And if Celes decided that she wanted to fight Luna instead, then she was perfectly happy to allow that, considering what Luna had done to her.

Maybe she’d fight them, but not quite yet.

She instead floated into the crowd of fighting mortals. She hoped that they wouldn’t notice the floating ghost-knife in the chaos, but then, if they did, what could they do to her, anyway?

Candy was standing a little aside, out of the thick of the action.

"Ummm... Am I supposed to hold it like this?" she asked, holding up one of the knives.

Terra floated next to her and appeared. “Well, that depends on what you’re trying to do, doesn’t it? Are you trying to cut your own fingers off? Then you’re holding it the right way.”

She smiled altogether too cheerfully. “How’ve you been doing, Candy? We haven’t really gotten a chance to speak to each other one-on-one since I was killed. You enjoy getting in the middle of people trying to kill each other? I’ve gotten used to it over the years. Kind of had to, really. How about you?”

She looked around at all the battling townspeople. “Amazing how self-destructive this town seems to be. It’s like they want to die.”

Terra leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You know, I always thought you were adorably naive. It’s amazing how you still appear to be retaining that quality, even after seeing all this death and destruction. How do you do it?”

[Celestial]

Steel-toed boots. darn it! She should have realised that Luna would have a trick like that up her sleeve. However, her goal was achieved. Luna fell to the ground for a moment. Celes did not believe it would be that easy. She was prepared for an attack.

It came, faster than she expected. There was a kick at her shins, which the girl did not manage to dodge on time. It was a mistake to not do any training since she died. She fell to the ground, just managing to cushion her blow with her hands. Before Luna could do anything else, Celes leapt up to her feet and struck a fighting pose.

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm not planning to beat the information out of you anyway. I have better, more efficient tricks up my sleeve," she spat and struck two blows at Luna with her hands, one to the head and one to her stomach, before aiming a kick at her side.

-*Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Entwuffton*-

Pastor Frederick was sitting in the parish house, enjoying a quiet It had been a good service. Of course, it was a small congregation but he did not mind too much. He found that he liked small congregations better. They always listened and while they did not contribute much to the church fund, the money coming in from Miss Teal easily covered the upkeep of the church. Lovely girl, that one. He could remember when he first met her. The church was in disrepair and he was at the end of his rope. The girl came in like an angel and promised to pay for all expences the church incurred, apparently because she liked it so much.

But they both knew that she had other reasons. That girl was sharp. She wouldn't frivolously spend money on a whim. Such a shame about the poor girl and the mafia. He hoped that she had taken up her place in heaven, the one she deserved.

The phone rang. Pastor Frederick got up with a sigh and picked it up, adjusting his glasses as he did so.

"Good morning, Pastor. This is Albert, Miss Teal's butler. I'm sure you are aware of Miss Teal's brutal murder. However, Miss Teal is not resting in peace as you would expect," Albert said on the other end of the phone.

"Albert, this is very noble of you but I really do not want to use my skills on Miss Teal. She has done so much for me and even though this would be for her, I could never do that with a clear conscience," Paster Frederick said quietly, flinching at the thought of his benefactor.

"I know, sir, but Miss Teal herself does not require your services. You see, some of the mafia members are in the same condition as her. Since you know the right amount of pressure to apply, Miss Teal would like you to retrieve some information from them, information which might put an end to this nightmare," the butler replied.

This was a different matter.

"I shall be there as soon as I possibly can. Goodbye, Albert," Pastor Williams said and hung up. He grabbed the bag that was always standing by his door and stode out towards the car. Miss Teal had never asked for his services before but after what she had done, he could not say no. After all, that was the real reason she was his sponsor: Pastor Frederick Willaims was a world class exorcist. The interesting thing about ghosts was that they were soul and mind. You exorcised a ghost by effectively tear them apart, effectively killing it. But the process is a painful one for the ghost. All you had to do to torture one was keep the mind and soul attached but only just. He knew how to do that.

Normally, Pastor Williams was a peaceful man who did not approve of torture. But if he could lend a hand in solving the Netwaffle Mafia case and help Miss Celes Teal, he would gladly do this. Carefully, he edged out his driveway and headed as fast as he could towards the neighbouring town.

((And if anybody is for any reason curious as to what denomination Pastor Williams is, it's Anglican. xD What an Anglican vicar is doing here, I have no idea. ))

[Deleted]

Ari approached Drake in the pizza stand. As far as she knew, a Draik was some sort of prize you won online that resembled a dragon. But Ari had no time for such things.

"You know, if I could bind you right now I would," she said. "I didn't see all my killers that night. I could only see the figures of Amati and Luna. But I suspect you, all right."

She put one hand on her hip and glided forward, as though she were a goddess. A wronged goddess. A goddess who no longer was believed.

"What do you think you are doing? I never wanted any of this. Heck, I only wanted to have my wedding today! If I had known you were planning this, I would have confessed in an instant. And Celes and the poor documentarian girl would be away on some island somewhere with me and Parker."

She flew closer, with a malevolent look in her eyes.

"Look what you've done to this place. You should have known it wouldn't end well for anyone. Including you."

[Gelquie]

Glenda was mostly watching as more townspeople came in. At least some of the people seemed to interact with her, though. It seemed that almost everyone else was busy fighting each other. Of course they had to remain tense at this time. No one seemed to want to calm down.

"You can go back to your teashop if you want but I doubt it will do any good. Nowhere is safe. It's better to fight now and rest later. But, if you really want to avoid all that, run back there. See how long you last."

Glenda didn't get a chance to respond before Celes Teal dashed off somewhere else. She merely watched her go as she continued to float.

"What's the worst that can happen to us as ghosts? At least they can't arrest us again. What do ghosts do...?" she pondered this to herself for some time, floating around in circles. It was then that she watched Drake come in and see her corpse. She watched and waited until he looked up.

"Hello there. I take it the deli won't be receiving it's supply of tea then? And what do you think of Ari's reasoning?"

"Hmm..." Glenda was silent for a moment, thinking. "...Well, I don't see why it wouldn't. Even if I can't make the teas, I can train someone else to make them for me! Business can still boom and customers can still get their teas. In fact, maybe I can still make teas. Maybe I could make my concoctions even better! I have to head back to the shop, see what I can do!" she begins to float out of the pizzeria in the direction of her shop, too excited to answer Drake's question. Time to see what she can come up with now.

((I'll do a better post later.))

[Draco]

Drake looks up at Glenda again.

"Is it me, or has she gone a little, you know..."

He twirls a finger around one side of his head real quickly.

"...Since she died?"

He sighs and looks at Ari now.

"Listen. Right now there are more important things to deal with. Look, Glenda is dead, are you going to pay attention to that or going to stand... Float around and whine about things that you couldn't have done? I mean really. Wedding today? What world were you living in?"

He leans against the wall.

"And even if you weren't dead. Do you really think you could bind me? I'm just a simple writer who can't sell more then a hundred copies of any book I write. Not to mention it just happens this town is the only place that ever buys my books, I wouldn't want to kill the only source of income I have. Why don't you go bother the ghosts who are members of the mafia, at least then you can do something."

He was really annoyed now, the GSIS and murders were bad enough, now he had a ghost bothering him. Mafia or not, he's going to be a very angry ghost if he died in the upcoming battle.